Recently re-read Laura Hillenbrand’s “Unbroken” and re-watched the subsequent film adaptation directed by Angelina Jolie. It‘s a biography of Louis Zamperini, a man who had one of the most harrowing and moving stories of WWII. Long thread about him and POWs of Japan.

Louis Zamperini was born on January 26, 1917 into an Italian immigrant family. Raised in Torrance, California, his early life was marked by juvenile delinquency. His older brother Pete, however, convinced him to train for his high school’s track team which kicked off his success.

Louis excelled at running, making the mile in 4 minutes, 21.2 seconds. His success awarded him a scholarship to USC, and he made the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His final lap of the 5000m race done in 56 seconds even caught the attention of Adolf Hitler whom Louis briefly met.

WWII put Louis’ running career on hold. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and participated in dangerous bombing missions on B-24s. His plane suffered heavy damage during an air raid on the Japanese-held island of Nauru, but he survived and saved the lives of his crewmen.

B-24 aircraft were notorious for their unreliability. When Louis boarded The Green Hornet on May 27, 1943 his life would be changed forever. The plane malfunctioned and crashed into the sea 850 miles south of Hawaii. Louis and two men survived. The other eight crewmen perished.

For 47 days, Louis and pilots Russell Allen Phillips and Francis McNamara drifted at sea on two small rafts. They subsisted off albatross meat and small pilot fish they caught with bait. Sharks and even a Japanese Zero plane attacked the three men. McNamara would not survive.

Louis and Russell drifted all the way to the Marshall Islands which were under Japanese occupation at the time. While their treatment was initially courteous, they were moved to Kwajalein Atoll where they were brutally tortured, beaten, and subjected to medical experimentation.

After 42 days in captivity, both men were transferred to Ōfuna prisoner of war camp in Kamakura. It was never reported as a POW camp by the Japanese, so the Red Cross had no access to it. Ōfuna was meant to be a temporary holding facility, but some POWs were interned for years.

It is here that we must discuss the treatment of POWs by the Japanese Empire. At Ōfuna, prisoners were tortured for information, routinely beaten by sadistic guards, placed into solitary confinement, prohibited from talking to one another, and subsisted on 500 calories a day.

Though terrible, the later POW camps Louis would spend the rest of the war at were much worse. He was moved to Ōmori camp in Tokyo, notorious for its horrific conditions. In addition to the starvation and beatings, POWs were used as slave labor in shipyards and factories.

A pivotal character to the story of Louis Zamperini is Sgt. Mutsuhiro Watanabe. Hated by both POWs (who nicknamed him “The Bird”) and even his fellow Japanese soldiers, Watanabe was unquestionably an unhinged, cruel man who tortured POWs to fulfill his own admitted sadomasochism.

Watanabe took a particular interest in Louis, singling him out and torturing him more than anyone else. As depicted in the film adaptation of Unbroken, he at one point ordered every POW at Ōmori to punch Louis in the face which lasted until sundown.

Watanabe was eventually moved away from Ōmori, but he would soon be reunited with Louis and the other men who deeply resented him when they were transferred to Naoetsu camp in Niigata. This was no coincidence. Watanabe specifically had this arranged so he could have Louis.

Known for being among the worst of all the Japanese camps, at Naoetsu Australian and American prisoners were literally worked to death moving tons of coal in nearby shipyards among other dangerous labor. Today it’s a peace park. Must-read article here.
https://www.docdroid.net/GpJqrc6/naetosu-japon-pow-ejecucion-sgt-siffleet-after-the-battle-169-pdf

The Japanese had orders to execute all POWs if America were to win the war, but the ensuing surrender and quick takeover of Japan after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs prevented this from happening. Louis was reunited with his family, captured in this tearful photo.

The years after the war were not happy ones for Louis. Like virtually all POWs, he suffered from extreme PTSD and trauma due to his horrific experiences. He turned to alcoholism and was abusive to his wife. A religious awakening from Billy Graham, however, turned his life around.

Louis quit drinking and became an Evangelical Christian who dedicated himself to helping boys that were juvenile delinquents like him in his own youth. In 1950, he returned to Japan and forgave his former captors in Sugamo Prison. Some even became Christians because of his words.

The one man who remained, however, was Mutsuhiro Watanabe. Although a wanted war criminal, he faked his death and lived for decades as a successful insurance salesman after the war. Though Louis even forgave him, Watanabe showed no remorse and would not see him. He died in 2003.

Louis Zamperini outlived the majority of his family members and friends, passing away at the age of 97 on July 2, 2014, 70 years after America declared him dead when Green Hornet went down. He had long let go of his anger and died peacefully without any regrets.

While Louis did not live to see the premiere of the film adaptation of his life, he did see a rough cut with director Angelina Jolie and expressed his approval. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but personally, I found it to be a moving and fitting tribute to him.

“Unbroken” is not a perfect film and the book is a far richer account of Louis Zamperini’s life, but in a modern cinema industry dominated by superhero and action movies, I’m glad it was made. Not enough Americans are aware of the WWII Pacific Theatre and Japanese POW camps.

Unbroken unsurprisingly received backlash from Japanese ultranationalists and it only saw a limited release in Japan two years later in 2016. I believe though that it is a story the whole world must know. POW history of all countries is often forgotten and seldom discussed.

Louis Zamperini even returned to Japan again in 1998 for the Nagano Winter Olympics as a torchbearer and ran through where Naoetsu once stood. While the Japanese Empire was an aggressor and cruel to POWs, he saw how Japan had changed. His story symbolizes forgiveness, not hate.