Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Unbroken

I just finished reading the Laura Hillenbrand book "Unbroken" - about Louie Zamperini.  Yes there is plenty of water in it, and a dire lack of water as well.

Louie was a running phenom in the 1930's having made the US Olympic team as a 19 year old in 1936.  He was slated by most of the track pundits as the most likely runner in the world to break the elusive 4 minute mile.  He didn't do all that well in his first Olympics, but well enough that his sights were firmly set on the 1940 games set for Tokyo, Japan.  But the war intervened and the 1940 games had been cancelled shortly after having been moved to Helsinki, Finland as soon as Japan withdrew its host status.  Louie enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a bombardier on a bomber in the Pacific theater.

The book is his story of being captured by the Japanese and his extraordinary will and courage to survive and assist others in surviving.  Water plays key roles throughout the book, but that's all I'm going to say about that.  The book is meticulously researched and quite an amazing read, and if you're interested in World War II it's a double treat.  Enjoy.
 

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