Unbroken by War
Louis Zamperini was a juvenile delinquent who became an Olympic runner, then a World War II bombardier, then a POW who endured unspeakable torture. What finally broke him wasn't the war - it was coming home.
In 1943, Zamperini's bomber crashed into the Pacific. He survived 47 days on a life raft, fighting sharks and starvation. Then Japanese forces captured him.
For two years, he suffered in POW camps under a guard nicknamed "The Bird" who beat him daily with a bamboo pole and belt buckle. Zamperini was singled out for special cruelty because of his Olympic fame.
He survived by holding onto one thought: one day he would kill The Bird.
Broken by Coming Home
After the war, Zamperini returned home a hero but shattered. He became an alcoholic. His marriage crumbled. Nightmares of The Bird tormented him. He was planning to return to Japan to murder his former torturer.
In 1949, his wife brought him to a Billy Graham crusade. Zamperini resisted until the final night. Then he remembered a promise he'd made on the life raft: if God saved him, he'd serve God forever.
Unbroken by Grace
He walked forward and surrendered. The nightmares stopped. The anger vanished. The drinking ended.
Most remarkably, Zamperini returned to Japan in 1950 - not for revenge, but to forgive. He visited Sugamo Prison, where Japanese war criminals were held, and shared the gospel with his former torturers.
The man unbroken by war was finally broken by grace. And in that breaking, he found freedom.
