He Survived 47 Days on a Raft. Then It Got Worse

Fact check

The facts and where they come from

1. He survived 47 days on a raft. Wikipedia: “After drifting at sea on a life raft for 47 days.” USC Dornsife: “For 47 days, Zamperini and two other survivors floated adrift before washing ashore on the Marshall Islands.” Associated Press: he “drifted for 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters before being captured by Japanese forces.” Olympedia also gives 47 days at sea. 1364
2. His name was Louis Zamperini, a 1936 Olympic runner. Wikipedia: “Zamperini finished 8th in the 5,000-meter distance event at that Olympics.” USC Dornsife: he “placed eighth in the 5,000-meter run” at the 1936 Berlin Games. Olympedia: 5,000 meters, eighth. 1345
3. In 1943, his Army bomber crashed into the Pacific: his B-24, the Green Hornet, on May 27, 1943. Wikipedia: “mechanical difficulties caused the bomber to crash into the ocean.” Pacific Wrecks: it was “on a search mission bound for Palmyra Airfield to refuel after the search” and crashed “into the Pacific Ocean north of Palmyra.” Associated Press: he was “a bombardier on a US Army Air Forces bomber that crashed in the Pacific Ocean during a reconnaissance mission.” 156
4. Only three of the 11 men aboard survived. Wikipedia: “killing eight of the 11 men aboard.” Pacific Wrecks: “Only three survived the crash: Philips, Zamperini and McNamara.” 15
5. They lived on rain, raw fish and birds that landed on the raft. Wikipedia: “they subsisted on rainwater, small fish eaten raw, and birds that landed on their raft.” Pacific Wrecks: they “survived by catching and eating two albatross birds.” 15
6. Sharks circled. Wikipedia: “all while fending off constant shark attacks.” Associated Press: “in shark-infested waters.” 16
7. A Japanese bomber shot their raft full of holes. Wikipedia: “a Japanese bomber, which punctured their life raft, but no one was hit.” Pacific Wrecks: “strafing by a Japanese bomber.” 15
8. On day 33, one man died: the tail gunner, Francis McNamara. Wikipedia: “After 33 days at sea, McNamara died; Zamperini and Phillips wrapped up his body and pushed it overboard.” Pacific Wrecks: “McNamera survived 33 days at sea then died.” Stars and Stripes also gives 33 days. 157
9. On day 47, the Japanese captured them. Wikipedia: “Zamperini and Phillips reached the Marshall Islands and were immediately taken prisoner by the Japanese Navy.” Pacific Wrecks: “After 47 days at sea, Zamperini and Phillips were found by a Japanese fishing vessel.” USC Dornsife: they washed ashore on the Marshall Islands and were captured. 153
10. For two years, he was starved and beaten in prison camps. Associated Press: “He spent more than two years as a prisoner of war, surviving torture and near-starvation at the hands of his captors.” Olympedia: a prisoner of war for about two years. Pacific Wrecks: Kwajalein, Ofuna, then Naoetsu “until the end of the Pacific War”; Wikipedia: Ofuna, Omori and Naoetsu. 6451
11. One guard, called the Bird, tormented him most of all. Wikipedia: “he was tormented by prison guard Mutsuhiro ‘The Bird’ Watanabe.” Wikipedia (Watanabe): a sergeant at the Omori and Naoetsu camps, whom the prisoners nicknamed “The Bird.” Associated Press: Watanabe was “his most brutal wartime tormentor.” Stars and Stripes: head guard at Omori and Naoetsu, “as sadistic as former prisoners have reported.” 1267
12. Back home, he was declared dead. Wikipedia: “his status was changed to killed in action.” Stars and Stripes says newspaper headlines declared the Olympian dead. 17
13. He came home alive, to nightmares and the bottle. Wikipedia: “Zamperini also became addicted to alcohol,” and his nightmares “ceased” only after 1949. Stars and Stripes: “a downward spiral of drinking, marital problems and despair.” 17
14. Then, in 1949, he found faith, and the nightmares stopped. Wikipedia: “In 1949, at the encouragement of his wife and her Christian friends,” he went to a Billy Graham crusade; “Following this, he forgave his captors, and his nightmares ceased.” Associated Press: “Mr. Zamperini became a born-again Christian in 1949 after attending a Los Angeles crusade led by evangelist Billy Graham.” 16
15. He went back to Japan, and forgave his old guards face to face. Wikipedia describes “an October 1950 visit” to the prison in Tokyo where former guards were held as war criminals, and he forgave them. Stars and Stripes: “Gen. Douglas MacArthur granted him access to war criminals held at the restricted” prison. 17
16. Decades later, the Bird refused to meet him, but Zamperini forgave him anyway. Wikipedia: “Watanabe, however, refused to see him”; “Zamperini sent him a letter, stating that while he suffered great mistreatment from him, he had forgiven him.” Associated Press: “But Watanabe, who escaped prosecution as a war criminal, refused to see him.” Wikipedia (Watanabe): Zamperini tried to meet him in 1998, and Watanabe refused. USC Dornsife: he “sent a letter to the Japanese prison warden who had tortured him stating he had forgiven him.” 1623
17. The Bird was never prosecuted. Wikipedia (Watanabe): he was No. 23 on MacArthur’s list of the 40 most wanted Japanese war criminals, hid, and was never prosecuted. Associated Press: he “escaped prosecution as a war criminal.” 26
18. In 1998, near his old camp at Naoetsu, he carried the Olympic torch for the Nagano Winter Games (Wikipedia). Stars and Stripes: he carried the torch in Takada, near his former prison camp. 17
19. He died on July 2, 2014, aged 97 (Wikipedia; Pacific Wrecks). Associated Press: “He was 97.” 165

Sources

1. Louis Zamperini Wikipedia
2. Mutsuhiro Watanabe Wikipedia
3. Meet 5 exceptional USC Dornsife Olympic athletes (Margaret Crable, July 15, 2021) USC Dornsife
4. Lou Zamperini Olympedia
5. Louis Zamperini Pacific Wrecks
6. Associated Press obituary of Louis Zamperini (July 3, 2014) The Boston Globe
7. Torch runner Louis Zamperini kindles spirit of forgiveness (January 26, 1998) Stars and Stripes

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