His plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and for 47 days, Mr. Zamperini and two other crew members drifted on a life raft, fighting off sharks and starvation and thirst. One of the others died. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent Mr. Zamperini's parents a formal condolence note in 1944, he had no idea that their son was now being held captive in a horrific Japanese prison camp.
By the time of their capture, Mr. Zamperini had drifted 2,000 miles and weighed less than 100 pounds. They were picked up by a Japanese patrol boat and the two survivors were tortured and beaten for more than two years. He was among the prisoners forced to receive mysterious injections by the Japanese to test their reactions.
It is too bad that Mr. Zamperini did not live to see the movie about him released.
A true American hero. Perhaps a Congressional Gold Medal is in order.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
No comments:
Post a Comment