WWII hero and alumnus Louis Zamperini visits USC Annenberg class

[@npm2457]

The greatest of men. His story should be compulsory reading throughout schools WORLDWIDE.....much respect to you Mr Zamperini from the UK.

[@nyeinkadono6061]

I read this book twice and wanna read again and again. Inspired me in so many ways. Thanks Grandpa Zamp for your sevice and inspired us.

[@SGaulted]

Louie's story has been an inspiration for me as I train for the '12 Olympics. I thought of Louie while racing this summer, thinking if he could endure what he did I could not begin to think I was suffering any pain in my pursuit. He has defined unrelenting determination. Louie will live forever.

[@jdadfightn]

GREAT BOOK. louis is a great man in every way. And I'd like to thank him for everything he went through for me and everyone else.

[@Sevinfootongue]

Thanks for posting this! I finished Unbroken not too long ago and thought Louie's story was and is so amazing. I wish I could give him a big hug and thank him for serving our country and for all he's done.

[@shelflife3867]

I just finished the book. Best non fiction I have ever read. I am 55 and I have read a lot of them. This mini documentary is okay but it barely scratches the surface (of course) of what Louis and Phil endured. It is brutal but uplifting just the same. Incredible story of loss, redemption and ultimately , forgiveness. This story should resonate with any one who has a pulse .

[@corbfisher]

RIP, Louie. Great man, you could feel it. Twelve years ago, I only met with and talked to him for 5 minutes, but I had a lot of respect for this man.

[@lovetravel5969]

I love Grandpa Zamperini`s story. cant wait to watch movie "UNBROKEN "

[@farmerjbird]

This is a truly platinum moment! I've never been to college, but this one seems to be a really good one. I love Louie's story, and have got a lot of inspiration out of it. I run a one truck transportation company, and have fell on hard times, plus had a heart attack last week at age 46, so this video is what I really needed to see tonight. Louie's testimonies of Christ's love, goodness and forgiveness are great examples of what we need. Veterans and their stories should be told in every school!

[@1mkemac]

Louie, I just read Unbroken and learned about you. Thank God this video is here. The world can learn a lot more about your thoughts. In Heaven, you will still inspire us. Died July 2, 2014 Los Angeles, CA.

[@holyrhino5833]

America lost it's greatest living hero today and heaven welcomed an incredible man of faith. Louis Zamperini peacefully passed away today in the presence of his entire family. Zamp was a WWII Hero, Olympian, USC and Torrance High Alum. He was also a Christ follower having been introduced to Jesus by Billy Graham at a tent revival meeting in 1949. The film "Unbroken" depicting Zamp's amazing life, directed by Angelina Jolie, is scheduled to be released in December. Jolie called Zamperini's death "a loss impossible to describe." We will live more "hearty" because of you. Thank you.

[@wandaoreilly]

Hero worship is our biggest problem. You mention Billy Graham as if that has some Godly significance, yet, according to the bible... worship of idols is... IDOLATRY. Don't you get it yet?

[@irene84200]

i heard of him about a year ago and read his book too. but i had no idea he passed away. i really dislike how when movie stars die, they get all this attention. but louis zamperini's death wasnt in the news or on social media

[@wandaoreilly]

***** Well here... i'll be the mouth for Jesus... faith is a profession, i profess.

[@LadyRenegade77]

I know this is an older video but I feel the need to comment nonetheless... This world was blessed to have a man like this and men/women like him, even if for only a short time. I only wish I could've met him. I hope everyone that has the chance will read his books or watch his movie, in my opinion your life will be better for it... If you have seen it I would love to hear your opinion. You are missed good sir! I know you are finally with your loving wife and at the rest you so deserve!! God Bless Y'all

[@cherylh5741]

Rest in peace Mr. Zamperini ~ And with much gratitude and love to your family

[@jjtt2003]

Having known Louie and spoken with him for hours, AND, my best man's sister was named after Louie and his wife...the book is a masterpiece Laura Hillenbrand. A humble genuine man that was the definition of real and who always pointed to Christ for his purpose in life, once converted. Until we meet again Louie, until we meet again. Fight On!

[@DankBudwoi]

How much water did he live on a day?

[@HesTNTonPMS]

Amazing man! God wanted this man alive ,there isn't even a question about it . . . .

[@jstansel123]

As a USC Alum and son of a WWII Vet I hope the kids gave him the respect he deserved/earned.

[@BeLikeWater1000]

just finished unbroken....amazing

[@faithfulrunner9313]

Louis Zamperini, I can't wait to meet you in Heaven. You are my #1 inspiration.

[@AppaloosaDreams]

thank you Louis Zamperini, a role model with a "cheerful countenance". Unbroken is a great book, I might just have to read "Seabiscuit" now!! Thank you, what a gift. I've shared the story with my family, my co-workers. My mom had heard about it on NPR and told me about it :)

[@garywheelock1962]

what a great man! i think that anybody who reads the book and watches this video would think twice before complaining about anything. should be a mandatory read in the school system at least as early as 9th grade. this book has inspired me to read more non fictional war novels. local library has many.

[@garywheelock1962]

keep reading michelle. we should never forget.

[@krishaungreen4647]

I wish I could of met him! I am disappointed in my country because I was born here in 1987 yet in school I learned about war, racism in the sixties and many other decade's, bombs, fake moon landings! "We're the red fern grows", yet we didn't have any lessons on this man!!!!! It took me to be an adult and see a movie made in 2014 that a few decent people like Angelina Jolie had to fight to make it; to learn about this man! By the time the movie came out he had already passed! I want to meet him but it's too late ,yet he lived to 97 years and I had plenty of time if they would have at least told me about him in school! Highly disappointed! There's not even a major holiday for this guy when he did not give up information that could have caused our country to fall when he was captured! He serve God afterwards and raised many young boys to be great man and this is how it went down! They may have honored him a few times but not to the degree he deserved! I am highly disappointed!GLORY TO THE LAMB BLESSINGS FOREVER

[@AVBFANS]

This is so inspiring!!

[@PanzernackerHs129]

Unbroken is a great book about an even greater man.

[@deakybb]

Gotta love this man!

[@billbright1755]

Oh ,the young man with the fast finnish!

[@RprtBak]

Wish I could've been there.

[@47725384]

Me too! Such a great man!

[@Amrichal]

Wow wow wow. A true hero!

[@chrisbulovsky832]

A great man.

[@dvsd01]

Went to the movie...really he best film I have seen out of Hollywood the past few years. Now time to read Laura Hillenbrand's book. FYI, some would benefit from reading George Day's story as well.

[@boils2]

Read the book. Understand what heroism is. God bless Loiuie and all the men like him

[@boils2]

Good for you....Keep reading...Never stop....

[@13scooterboy]

finished the book in two days, didnt study for finals, and finished my summer reading haha

[@millsbuckss]

What really happened when his plane went down? It sounds like he was shot down but it’s been edited? 17:40-18:20

[@makrocker1000]

Un altro brav'uomo Italo-americano.R.i.P.

[@chloebeckett9274]

Can't wait for the unbroken movie

[@BeLikeWater1000]

@GregWn and he punched the sharks...lol that was funny....this guy speaks so well for 94

[@guerrierodelgiaguaro]

It does not change the essence of the things, but I am so proud Louis is of Italian origin :)

[@walterschiller8281]

A true American hero!

[@shonchang123456789]

salute !

[@drew8570]

I will never forget the subhuman brutality and cruelty of those people. And I'll never forget what lives deep inside those people. It wasnt a singular incident. It is there in them all

[@GammaE35]

Nice hat, Louis. ✌

[@realbobphilips]

Why are they playing the titanic music

[@TheLoader69]

why not?

[@TheLoader69]

TheLoader69 its better suited over here than in the movie titanic ... haha

[@twstdelf]

Actually, there are segments from Titanic, as well as Braveheart (maybe more, but those are the ones I readily recognize). I'm guessing here, but since both are James Horner scores (who got his degree at USC) perhaps they have gotten special permission for their use here.

[@Rollogic]

twstdelf I noticed some from Shawshank Redemption too as well as other Thomas Newman scores.

[@LongRunFinancial]

The story of a True American Hero. One can only imagine how fast he might have run, had he had the opportunities that so many of us take for granted. The Reasons I Run dot com

[@Joncard15]

Shawshank soundtrack at 27:00.

[@YpUCLA23]

im jealous of everyone in that room....

[@vogorrea]

u know the man?

[@LA6616]

he spoke for over 2 hours, and no one offered him a glass of water! its a shame. usc sucks!

[@hannahhester8376]

@@justinfoster9280 Actually, a month and a week. 47 days, almost no food, no water.

[@chrisstone5389]

why didnt anyone ask him about the prison stories!!! the torture, the beatings, the agony, the life for 2 years! daily life, friendships you made with other POW's did you see anyone get killed etc etc etc details of the life ,

[@bellfitsu]

You should read the book :))

[@CookieMobsterGaming]

Maybe because he had nightmares about the torture and whatnot for year after his release...

[@shaofanger7167]

This may be very hard to believe but my name is Louie V I am a college freshmen and became a runner in high school ran the mile in 5:09 had a serious knee problems since the 6th grade but managed to make that having osgood slaughter I changed my high school through my Rotc program I was bullied for not being strong enough to do pull ups and things in Rotc bullied for being skinny then came the last even the 1 mile run he lined us up on the line the gunnery and Seargant major and set Go and I ran with pack there was like 27 people or more in this class and the Senior was a loud mouth and so was some of them rest of the one Senior the one mean to me and my classmates because we were freshmen said your all going to get beat like always he said I always win but I saw something in the Sun I saw light it flashed upon my eyes before the whistle blew and during the race I was in the back and people watching the race laughed at me calling me skinny but then I looked into the sun and believed in Jesus to help me do this to show my high school the strength of the little guy and I passed all of them tailing the hothead this loudmouth bully track star he's been running since middle school and guess what I passed him I won the race with a 26 second lead I had no track experience or Cross County this bully's been winning all the races and bashing the heck out of all the rest of the people and I did have an idea I was going to teach him the power of belief and by winning the race I did I ran so hard that day the Memory I gave my all as a really good life time soccer player that's probably how I got my running after I won I shocked the gunnery seargeant and he told me as wells as people keeping time that said what the heck that freshmen won and the gunnery told me dang boy that was crazy fast you only need to do the mile in 7:10 for a grade 100 and said every second under 7:10 is a point he told me I ran a 5:50 so he told me the rest was extra points the main LT instructor came out after the race to greet his upper classmates he was a tall grumpy guy but kind when I got to know him over the years he was I looked at him and saw as he wanted to know what that bully got and to his suprisement he asked the he won right? And the gunny said sir Year not going to believe this but I got something to tell you he lost and he said Lost what do you mean someone Beat him and the LT said who who beat him no way and the funny pointed to me and the Tall 6ft 4 LT came to confront me and told me you won? I told him yes sir and he told me your a freshmen right? I told him yes then he asked if I ever ran track I said I don,t know what that is I asked him is that like sprinting I did research after the race for the first time on the computer about running I though sprinting was the name for track and field I had no track at my middle school so never knew what it was or even called but then the last thing he said that day the LT instructor said what's your name I told him my name is Louie V and he said really I said yes why your name is Louie spelled exactly like that I said yes but I spell it differently luis but on my birth certificate it is Louie V that is my real name and told me Jesus I never heard of kid here just run as a freshmen and win my course he showed me you remind me of a new movie that came out and I said what movie he told me this movie was based on a true story although Louie Zampereni I did far better and more in track and as a Olympic runner as well as survive torture from Japanese I heard zampereni went to college I recently looked him up late last year again and found something interesting he went to USC California and I am a student at USC Columbia And my jaw dropped I've been running back up again since the start of the school year I grow weary of serious injurys such as my broken foot from my sophomore year I still ran but then something very very sad happened personally to me which made me stop then come back for the last 2 meets that year but then did soccer my last To years of high but I had a nervous breakdown day one here at USC Of who I am I'm so scared of the big world and o started to cry and I saw something I heard a voice Jesus telling me to start running again and I told him oh come on I grow weary like a old man broken foot stab marks on my stomach from a fence all kind of injurys and tendinitis and back injurys and spasms as well as breathing problems but I am running again I run every night here at USC Really hard I was lost of what do I do I needed someone to show me my place here and God told me to go back to the thing that I run from everyday I lost a chance to ask a girl my second year in high school she was so special and beautiful she was like my world every breath I took on the field was for her to hopefully I would gain confidence to ask her but I was to late she was different from the rest of the girls I really liked her and it broke me she moved and I failed it effected my running and my grades and concentration I did not want to let go of her I been constantly depressed since sophomore year now a college freshmen I saw a couple split apart due to a girls parents got stationed to California as well there military and her boyfriend was on my track team and he lost her and collapsed on the ground after he hugged her goodbye crying I saw him suffering his situation happened after mine I beat myself up every single day depressed it nearly led to my suicide first day at USC but then God spoke to me to go to the church here at USC and be the person you are so I helped feed the homeless every Wednesday since august 2017 then returned to running to confront my deepest fear and that is the love inside me for a girl I lost and it did change me but I'm trying not to let it break my spirit because i have a strange life I met a girl here at USC and I worry that I'll fail just like in high school it's really hard to for me to find that right girl but I after so many LONG years of depression I found her but not sure if I deserve her she was the only girl for the first time in 5years I could actually like so so much since my first chance in high school but I'm running HARD through cold and in the dark because I will not let my Darkness win when I was a college freshmen I had so much love and light in my heart I was happy and I ran with my hand placed upwards towards the sun that's how I won Believe that word is what I found in freshmen year in high school but this year my 5 year meaning college is to believe in light on a journey to become unbroken I spend years after every soccer practice after I lost her and track practices locking myself in a air condition facility and I just sat there depressed every day for hours every day I ate on my own I aged and so did my hair on my head grow but I see now what I must do I must believe again the very first Thing I lost in order to chance my life becoming unbroken is one of my most challenging words this years as well as believe in light it's really difficult to come back after nearly broken in my body and heart I had a bully in soccer slam his cleathes in my ankles every soccer game I faced him I ended up scoring 3 goals over 2 years 11th and 12 grade they used to knock me down hard since I was a fast soccer player I returned to the sport I played most of my life but I must return to the gift I was given and that is running I run shirtless in the cold temperatures here at USC everyday to fight that pain of losing a girl I believed I loved since it always haunted me i tell myself that I'm going to beat this fear I'm going to rise up from being broken in the heart after years and I am going to change this school for the good and make it the best it can be I run shirtless and in shorts everyday while people wear jackets I heard people telling me while running that oh my gosh your not wearing a shirt dude it's 28 degrees out here I use to run in the cold some days after school on my own ever since I lost the first girl I ran but I did not want to be seen but God told me to go out and run try to get people to see you so I run at night getting a little bit better some people see me but in a way I don,t want them to I'm so show off I never wanted to be that I wanted to inspire and set the example but this calling of God in my darkest hour of life the first day at USC changed my life I didn't think I could run so hard after being stepped in an injuries but I I was able to push through it as well as my fever in the cold and rain I ran in the cold weather some days after I lost that girl to confront my anger but never let my anger flow it just stayed there I was mad at myself angry and sad I felt dead but now I'm going Put a end to my depression I'm going to trying and reclaim what I lost and fight my way back the cold weather here is very cold but I'm teaching myself that I can do and I can do it shirtless and in shorts and in the Dark and I did I am improving everyday progressing to put a end to my long depression so hopefully I have it in me to ask the girl I like here at USC out but first I need to make sure my heart is pure from all distress All anger to cure this suffering in me first so I can be the best for her I'm not like a lot of guy from my high school I really wanted a girlfriend and to treat her right while other dated every girl in the school I was not like that I wanted to find the one and bring happiness in her life and mine I'm going to beat this anger my body is cold from the weather my knees are hurting my past injurys are hurting and my heart but I'm not going to stop running until I'm free my parents always wondered what bothered me and angered me it is because I lost a girl but I'm going to stop my fear I will I will do it and I'm going to beat it it's time for my depression to be put to a end the only way out is through

[@shaofanger7167]

I'm no show off* I don,t want to be I want to inspire

[@PompeyBoy66]

We don't chose to be born; this is God's world. Mr Zamperini was finished, about to fail (and he was very strong so it took a lot) and someone invited him and his wife to an evangelist meeting and he went persuaded by his wife. There he met God. If you want to know the truth then ask God to show you.

[@OneAdam12Adam]

I feel betrayed by my country. Why weren't we taught about these heroes while growing up? Prisoners of War are the unsung heroes of any war? These facts help bring more context to why the Japanese were put internment camps. How dare we sit in judgement of what our parents and grandparents did back then? The Japanese were barbaric and savage who did whatever their Emperor wanted. The brutal torture was insane and they knew they were going to be killed if America won the war. Watanabe was a special, evil bastard. It makes me outraged that our supposed leaders omitted these facts. Shame! Shame! Shame!

[@nn-nu8hf]

Ironic this man is a professor in Communications. Can hardly string a fucking sentence together.

[@alexsweet170]

really. this guy is 94 he will begin to slow down in his sentences. not many live to 94 or even 80 or 70 you must be a punk ass little kid to say something like that matt M biggest disgrace.

[@nn-nu8hf]

I was referring to the professor, hence why I put the word "professor".

[@gsajoe]

Right. Just like they did in Lillehammer. What a downer to watch this video and scroll down to your comment about how tough Israel is. I agree with you they're tough enough to not need our help. Right?

[@HardlineAthiest]

TWO HUGE THUMBS DOWN!!

[@BrucknerMotet]

2:07:55 The original Wedding Crashers!

[@kenra147]

i *accidentally* disliked this :'( shame on me... (i meant to hit the like button!)

[@203207ab]

what upsets me is that people keep bringing up that the japanese were so bad back then without looking at american history and how we abused iraqi prisoners recently a few years back. people from any country do bad things during war. That wasn't the point however of his movie. He came through that experience unbroken and stronger. That was the whole point. I'm sure people hold a grudge against the British and what they did to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, but how long do you want to hate all the time.

[@KAMIYAMIKA]

Dean Wilson :) I am Japanese and glad to hear opinions like yours. His survival story is great enough without demonizing Japanese. There were too much of the torture. I hope that that is not the most lasting impression of the film. The story of Louis himself could be just great and fulfilled with and without his experience at the war.

[@203207ab]

Thank you very much. I try to keep things in perspective.

[@Eric-eg2op]

This comment is ignorant. The US is the most benevolent superpower in the history of the earth - no contest. All countries are made of a collection of fallible humans. All countries make mistakes. People can knowingly do bad things even when they are generally good people. You can't begin to compare what happened in Iraq to what other evil governments have done. Read about the atrocities of the following governments/ leaders (I will stick within the last hundred years or so): Stalin, Lenin, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot, the Japanese military of the 30, the current CCP etc. These leaders condoned and celebrated evil. When the events of Abu Ghraib were discovered, they were condemned. Read about the rape of Nanking. Your comment is old maybe you have grown up and your opinions have matured. I couldn't let this comment stand uncontested.

[@kellyoxo2818]

I am going to read this. But honestly I don't believe his story. What kind of raft was he on? The rafts they had on the USS INDIANAPPOLIS only lasted a couple of weeks. They were made out of cork and disintegrated. I don't doubt he was in the olympics or a pilot in WW2. I want to know how he survived for 47 days at what point during the Pacific conflict did he get captured. Because the Japanese were starving. It is really too unbelievable. I guess ask George H. Bush what he thinks? If he thinks its possible I'll believe.

[@kellyoxo2818]

President George H.W. Bush