Unbroken Essay Essay Example

Unbroken Essay Paper Unbroken Essay Unbroken is a non-fiction book written by Laura Hildebrand. Unbroken is about Lieu Simpering, an Italian American that lives in Torrance, California, soon to be an Olympic miler and bombardier of the air force. He was born in January 26, 1 917, at 5 years old, Lieu would smoke cigarettes while walking to kindergarten, and at 8 years old he would start drinking. He had a very troublesome childhood; he would steal around his neighborhood and would eat anything that was edible. He would be bullied because he was a small kid hen his dad taught him how to fight so, then he started picking fights but he always admired his older brother Pete. One day when Lieu was caught sneaking people in to a basketball game by using his home key (he found out theres a 1/50 chance of a fitting a key to any lock), was later almost suspended by the principal and was no longer able to participate in any sport or school activity. Pete begged to the principle to let Lieu participate in a sport in which later Pete convinced Lieu to join track and found out he was good at running but Lieu didnt like running so, he did it for the applause. Pete started coaching Lieu and he commenced to break records and earned the nickname Torrance Tornado. Lieu participated in an Olympic 5000 qualifier and lost but despite the loss he got invited to the final of the Olympic in NY. He was able to compete in the Berlin Olympics of 1936 even though he placed in 2nd place in the finals in a finish so close, Lieu later said, you couldnt put a hair be;men us. We will write a custom essay sample on Unbroken Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Unbroken Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Unbroken Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When missing 7th place he impresses the audience and meets Hitler who says, Ah, youre the boy with the fast finish. What was so impressive was his sat lap which broke record his final time, 14:46. 8, was by far the fastest 5000 run by any American in 1 936, almost 12 seconds faster than Lashs best for the year. Lieu got in trouble with the Nazis when he wanted to take the Nazi flag as a souvenir and later replied that he wanted a souvenir of the happy time he had had in beautiful Germany so they let him go and let him take the flag. When the press wanted to hear about Louses adventure he had 2 versions of how he got the flag in one version, Hitler himself had allowed him to keep the flag. In another, Lieu had concealed the flag so cleverly that it was never discovered. He had done it all, went the story, to win the heart of a girl. After the Olympics were finished the Olympic Village was transformed into a military barracks. Coming back from the Olympics Lieu attended the University of Southern California, making friends with Jimmie Assai, who was later found out as a Japanese spy/war criminal whose attempts to pass as a student were apparently an elaborate ruse. Lieu was looking forward to the next Olympics but was later cancelled because of World War II. In 1941, Lieu joined the Army Corps, but drops out later on. But, Lieu doesnt read the papers Of resignation from the Air corps to find out later after signing he had agreed to rejoin them so he became a bombardier. Louses aircrew was made up of Phillips, temporary co-pilot gross, Simpering, Mitchell, Douglas, Pillsbury, Clansman, Monster, Lambert, and Brooked. They were a very talented crew and their first mission that was also successful was on Wake Atoll. After the battle of Naira, some of the men survived an attack on their base on Funfair. Their first plane was called superman but was later unable to function after contact by some zeros where 2 crewmen died from bleeding in the skull and another from being shot. Their plane after Superman was Green Hornet which wasnt air worthy, had new crew members and had engine failures over 200 miles from base and caused them to crash and as a result only Lieu, Mac, and Phil survived. They drifted in the Pacific Ocean for 46 days. The first day Mac panicked and ate all of the food rations. They survived on the birds to use as bait and sometimes food when they didnt catch any pilot fish. When dying of thirst Lieu prayed to god and promised, If god would quench their thirst, he vowed, hed dedicate his life to him. Rain would fall the next day. Before reaching land Mac died and the Japanese Ana captured them. The Japanese didnt inform America of the capture of Lieu. They let Lieu and Phillip recover in a hospital then they Were transferred to a prisoner camp where they thought they Were going to be executed. Since Lieu was a famous Olympic runner, he was given harsh treatment by the guards. He was sent to a camp in Tokyo where he received ritual treatment from Mouthier Wattage a. K. A The Bird. A Japanese propagandist wanted to use Lieu to make pro-Japanese broadcasts to America then was punished for refusing. The men were completely cut off from news of the war until the guards let them go when the war was over. Lieu was sent to a hospital to realize later that he would never run again. When Lieu finally came home their family were ecstatic to see their once little Lieu was well alive but were not aware of his OPTS until during a homecoming he started having flashbacks and spit at any person that looked Japanese. He had nightmares when the Bird was beating him. After meeting Cynthia for 2 weeks he decided to ask her for marriage. Lieu became a hard drinker and sadly Cynthia wanted a divorce. Cynthia has a religious awakening and decides to not file a divorce after meeting Billy Graham. Cynthia managed to convince Lieu to attend a Billy Grahams sermon. Lieu remembers the day with Phillip where he promises to god, if he saved them, he would serve god forever. Lieu stops drinking, stops having nightmares, forgives The Bird, started giving talks and making appearances to tell his adventures.