"Unbroken": Olympian, WWII POW, hero Louis Zamperini dies at 97

Among other things, Zamperini set the U.S. high school mile record while a junior in 1934 southern California, ran in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 5,000 and, taken by surprise at the speed of the world-class runners, kicked it into high gear, running the last lap in an astonishing 56 seconds. He still finished only eighth.

Zamperini volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a B-25 pilot, before WWII. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, his unit was sent to the South Pacific. In 1943, his plane was shot down and eight of the eleven crewmen perished. He and two others clung to a raft for 47 days in shark infested waters before being taken captive by the Japanese and spending two years in a prison camp, enduring torture throughout.

Laura Hillenbrand wrote a book about this remarkable man, and when the author, who also wrote Seabiscuit, was unable to take on the rigors of a book signing tour because of her chronic fatigue syndrome, Zamperini took over those duties for her -- at age 94.

One of the oldest of the Great Generation, a hero, a man of God, Louis Zamperini's greatest victory came through faith in Christ.

Godspeed Louie Zamperini.