Louis Silvie Zamperini was born on january 26, 1917, to Italian Immigrants, Anthony and Louise Zamperini in Olean, New York. As a a boy, Louis was very hard to control. He was always getting in trouble and running off. At just five years old Louis started to smoke cigarettes. Louis and the police were often seen together. Young Louis became a target for bullies, but he fought them off never letting them win a fight or break him. Louis' sister Sylvia once said, "You could beat him to death and he wouldn't say 'ouch' or cry." ( Unbroken, Hillenbrand).
A big in influence in Louis' life was his older brother Pete. "Louie idolized Pete..." (Unbroken). Pete Zamperini was the opposite of his younger brother. He was the charming young man that everyone loved. He was a sports star. His best and favorite sport was track. He held school records and was the star of the team. Pete saw something in his brother that other people didn't. Pete convinced his principal to let Louis join the Torrance High School track team in 1932. Louis was slow and gave up easily when he first started. As time went on Pete urged Louis on. He started to train him and never gave up on Louis, even if Louis gave up on himself. Soon, Louis was breaking school and national records. This was the beginning of something special.
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Louis was the fastest high school student that had ever lived. He set the new national high school record in the mile run with a blistering time of 4:21.3. Louis Zamperini soon found himself ready to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He knew that he wouldn't be able to improve enough to compete in the 1600 meter race, so he trained for the 5000 meter race. Louis trained, and trained, and trained. In the Olympic Trials he finished right along side Don Lash, a famous American runner. The finish was so close that know one actually knows who won the race. Louis earned himself a spot on the Olympic team. At the Berlin Olympics Louis did not medal, but he was the first American and set a new record for the last lap of a 5,000 meter race. It was considered amazing to run your last lap in under 70 seconds. Louis Zamperini ran his final lap in 56 seconds.
Following the Berlin Olympics, Louis took a scholarship to the University of Southern California and performed admirably on their track team. During one of his 1600 meter races, other competitors in his race kicked him in the legs with their spikes and fractured one of his ribs. Louis broke away from the pack that was trying to harm him and ended up running the 1600 meters in 4:08.3. This was a new NCAA record and the fifth fastest outdoor mile ever run. His competitors were not even close.
The following is a clip from the film Unbroken (2014). Posted by MOVIES Coming Soon. This is the movies portrayal of Louis' race at the Berlin olympics.
While at USC Louis prepared himself for the 1940 Olympics. It was then that World War II broke out and the Olympics were cancelled. Louis was crushed and he started losing races and failing classes. He left USC and joined the Air Force where they trained him to be a bombardier. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Louis was made an officer and given a crew to work with in the war on a B-24 bomber plane. From this point on Louis' life would never be the same.