Louie Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants, was raised in Torrance, California, where he overcame a troubled youth to become a rising star in track and field. Louie joined the American Army Air Corps and served as a bombardier in WWII after shining at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1943, Louie's aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean when it was doing a search and rescue operation. In the end, only Louie and one other man made it through more than a month at sea. They were taken prisoner by Japanese forces and placed in POW facilities in Japan. Louie was tortured by his captors physically and mentally for the course of the following two years. After being freed in 1945, Louie went back to America, where he got married and battled alcoholism.
