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Louie's Summer Running
After running away from home, Louie began running all summer under Pete's supervision when he tried to turn his life around. He began running his paper route in order to increase his endurance and speed. -
Louie's Graduation
Louis Zamperini graduated in December of 1935 and then set his sights on the Berlin Olymics in 1936. His goal was to run the 1500 meter. -
Olympic Qualifications
Zamperini qualified for the Summer Olymics by running the 5000 meters, and he was the youngest man to run in the distance category of the Olympics. -
Summer Olympics
Louis placed 8th with a time of 14:46.8 in the 5000 meter. It was the fastest 5000 meter run by any American in 1936. -
4 Minute Mile
Zamperini went to the NCAA championships in Minneapolis in hopes of breaking the 4 minute mile. Unfortunately, he was attacked as the other runners heard about his tremendous odds of breaking this record. He came close at 4:08.3. -
Louie joins the Army Air Corps
In early 1941 Louie joined the Army Air Corps and was sent to the Hancock College of Aeronautics in Santa Maria. There he learned how to fly a plane. -
Zamperini joined the army
After attempting to fly a plane earlier, and not having a great experience, Zamperini joined the army. -
Bombardier Day
After joining the army, Louie was stationed as a bombardier in a plane - not his strongsuit. -
First Super Man Flight Into War
The first mission of Super Man and Zamperini alike involved an attack on Wake while the Japanese slept. The planes were to approach in darkness and radio silence, creating a very dramatic and tense mission. Louie bombed some bunkers and a runway. Although the plane almost ran out of fuel by the time it reached Midway, the mission was very successful. -
Louie's first encounter with 'exploding sharks'
While flying over Canton, and Oahu as well, the men had to save a crew that had just gone down in the Pacific, and upon rescue the men saw the sharks coursing the water and they realized the imminent danger of falling into the water. -
Taking on Nauru
The men were told to approach at 8,000 feet, dangerously low and also making the planes susceptible to attacks. Super Man led the attack and at about 11:35 the planes were over the island. The plane was struck from the ground in the right rudder and the bomb bay. The plane then faced 9 zeros. The tail gunner Lambert was struck by shrapnel in the hip and left leg. The waist gunners Brooks and Douglas were also hit with shrapnel. Glassman, manning the belly turret, had two large pieces in his back -
Nauru continued
Nelson, the passenger, was hit multiple times with rounds from the zeros. The planes continued to fire at Super Man. Pillsbury was shot from foot to knee with shrapnel as he was thrown from his post. Brooks was dangling partially out of the bom bay, and had been shot in the back and the head as he slipped into unconsciousness. Douglas, even though shot to pieces, took down the last zero. The plane landed on Funafuti and had 594 holes. Although everyone made it back alive, Brooks died soon after. -
Air Raid
Around April 20th, the men on Funafuti were woken to the sound of distant gunfire and plane engines. The island was under attack by the Japanese, and Louie ran for cover under a native hut on stilts. The whole island was torn to shreds, but Louie escaped with only a scratch. -
The Green Hornet Assignment
After wasting time on the islands, the remaining crew of the Super Man was sent to join the 42nd sqadron of the 11th Bomb Group. 6 new men were joining their group, and they were far from pleased about it. They were assigned to the Green Hornet, one of the worst looking B-24 planes to arrive on the island for assignment. -
Mission Green Hornet
Clarence Corpening's B-24 had never landed, and Louie's new crew was sent to go search for it in the Green Hornet. 11 men were on board (one man asked to go along for the ride). Another plane, Daisy Mae, flew alongside the Green Hornet. During the flight, the Green Hornet dropped below the clouds and the co-pilot Cuppernell took first seat. The engines on the left were failing, and needed to be 'feathered' - turn the dead propeller blades parallel to the wind and stop the propeller's rotation. -
The Crash
The engineer feathered the second engine, not the first, thus causing both engines to fail. The plane began spinning downwards, and the men ran to their crash stations. The engineer had to stay in the cockpit to release the rafts, and had little chance of survival. Also, Mitchell hadn't emerged with the sextant and celestial navigation kit strapped to him. The plane crashed and drowned. Louie was stuck in the plane, but then re-awoke and released himself from the wreckage. He had survived.
