Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

PART IV

Chapter 18: A Dead Body Breathing


1 Hardtack, tea: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Robert Trumbull, “Zamperini, Olympic Miler, Is Safe After Epic Ordeal,” NYT, September 9, 1945.

2 Meeting native: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

3 Forced to sleep by waste hole: Ibid.

4 Diarrhea: Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, 1946 notes on captive experience.

5 Boiling water thrown in face: Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, 1946 notes on captive experience.

6 Louie hears singing: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

7 Phil’s ordeal: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; Russell Allen Phillips, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.

8 Carving name in wall: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

9 “What’s going to happen?”: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

10 Guards’ cruelty: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Robert Trumbull, “Zamperini, Olympic Miler, Is Safe After Epic Ordeal,” NYT, September 9, 1945.

11 “I was literally”: Raymond Halloran, email interview, March 3, 2008.

12 Louie’s interrogation: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

13 Women sexually enslaved: Chang, pp. 52–53.

14 “a ruptured octopus”: “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

15 Phil’s interrogation: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; Russell Allen Phillips, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.

16 Kawamura: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hollywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA. Louie would later be unsure if the name was Kawamura or Kawamuda, but the former is almost certainly correct, as it is a common name.

17 Sub men attack: Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

18 Medical experimentation: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, 1946 notes on captive experience.

19 Japanese experiment on captives: Tanaka, pp. 135–65; Gary K. Reynolds, U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II: The Issue of Compensation by Japan, Congressional Research Service, December 17, 2002, pp. 19–21.

20 Dengue fever: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Louis Zamperini, affidavit, John D. Murphy Collection, HIA, Stanford, Calif.; Louis Zamperini, 1946 notes on captive experience.

21 Second round of interrogation: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

22 Condemned, then saved from execution: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hollywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA.

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