Unbroken

UPDATE: July 17,2011

I just listened to a radio interview of Louis Zamperini that was recorded some time ago on the Hugh Hewitt show. I should provide a link but I don't have one right now. What a story and the story of the author Laura Hillenbrand is poignant also. She has a severe case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and is bedridden most of the time and rarely leaves her house. She has never met Mr. Zamperini but has communicated with him in a string of 95 phone calls, many lasting for some hours. This is a great American story and it ought to be read by anyone who cares about this country and its legacy.

I just finished a book that I came across rather by accident. It is entitled Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a story that is tough to put down. It was a hassle to have to work today because this book was in my satchel and I wanted to get at it. What a story! The book is based on Louis Zamperini, someone I had never heard of before but am now glad I became familiar with from this book.

This is not a Christmas story, but if you want to appreciate Christmas in a fuller way you must get and read this book. I recommend it for everyone. It is based on his WWII experience primarily but reviews his time as a runner, participating in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the cleansing and redeeming time of his life; a time that truly was looking like a life or death battle within himself.

Louis is still alive, in his 90's now and is truly an American legend. He represents that dying and shrinking generation of boys and girls that fought in WWII. It seems so long ago now, but in 1965 when it was only 20 years since V-E and V-J day I was 10 years old and my memory tells me that it doesn't seem so long ago. This book does not romanticize war but describes in clear detail the price that is paid when man fights man.