Louis Zambrini: Track Star, War Hero

Louis Zambrini, track star, war hero, and inspirational speaker. Even though he accomplished so much, he struggled with one challenge. Louis Zambrini had to figure out what his purpose in life was on multiple occasions. When his family moved from Italy to the United States, he was just a child; however, he was extremely mischievous. He would steal anything he could get his hands on, and fight with anyone who dared cross him. Louis spent his life surviving one extraordinary event after another. No one had faith in him (including Louis) except for one person; his brother Pete. After searching, he finally came to find his own faith. The meaning of his life was about being empowered by forgiveness and figuring out he could exceed the expectations

Louis turned out to be absolutely spectacularly at running events, winning every race he was faced with. Louis eventually went onto compete in the Olympics. This challenge of changing from a hoodlum to a track star was very difficult for Louis. Louis didn't just become a great runner, he was tired of being a petty thief. When his brother convinced him to try out for the track team, he slowly devoted himself. Finding immense happiness and fulfillment in running, he started training every day. In this way, he kept pushing himself. Louis didn't stop until he became the very best. Earning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, he surprised everyone. Most people thought Louis would amount to no more than your everyday beggar on the street. Already Louis had accomplished so muchLouis trained for the Olympics while at Southern California. He knew he wanted to be great, so he put fate in his own hands. Training vigorously, he made the Olympic cut. During the Olympics, he pushed himself harder than he ever thought possible, running a fifty eight second lap. For the first time, Louis had gone through the process of a positive change. He had controlled his destiny, and he liked it. It seemed to him that he had a life cut out for as a runner, or so he

The Japanese tortured him especially because of his Olympic status. Louis's most tormenting sergeant was,Mutsuhiro Watanabe . Taking a special interest in Zambrini, he was constantly torturing him. Zamperini was an icon to the villagers of Ofuna, Japan, and Watanabe felt that Zamperini challenged his authority for that reason. Mutsuhiro put Louis through horrible things such as, holding a log above his head for a half hour, then going on to punch him repeatedly. Louis was determined not to lose faith. He fought through the torture and starvation. The sergeant expected to break him. Nothing could break Zambrini. There was no way he would let anyone tell him what to do or how to act. He was tough as nails. His pain didn't end until two years later when America dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The war was