Answer found: Olympics closing ceremonies athlete

[Julie Purdy <purdyj@LINK75.ORG>]

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who responded about the 1930's Olympic athlete
taken prisoner of war during WWII who was profiled during the closing
ceremonies of the Nagano Olympics.  Not only did I receive his name (Louis
Zamperini), but I also received the title of a book about his life as well
as websites with info on him!  You guys are great!  And I want to say a
special thank you to Karen, Randall, and Beth for providing me with so
much extra info!
For those of you who are interested, here is the info about the book and
websites.


SIMON SAYS: While the closing ceremony at the Olympics is usually not a
must-see event, CBS has planned a dramatic story of torture and
forgiveness that you won't want to miss Sunday night.

The piece tracks the real-life saga of Louis Zamperini, who went from
being a mischievous kid in Torrance, Calif., to an eighth-place finisher
in the mile at the 1936 Olympics to a Japanese prisoner in 1943.

Zamperini survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific, and two years of
brutal treatment as a prisoner in Japan at the hands of Mutsuhiro Watanabe
- one of the 40 most wanted Japanese war criminals at the end of World War
II.

Watanabe is described by one POW as "the kind of person you'd expect one
day to take out his sword and bean you with it, slice you down the
middle."

Bob Simon's feature chronicles Zamperini's incredible survival to the rage
that consumed him when he came back to the United States to his return as
a torchbearer in Naoetsu, the town 40 minutes outside of Nagano where he
was a prisoner.

The piece also includes the first-ever interview with Watanabe and an
ending that will surprise you.


Check this page: http://www.communityonline.net/users/bernie/LOU.htm
which also mentions a book about his life, The Devil at My Heels.



When I read your request for the name of the Olympic athlete that went
through such horrors during WWII, I had to grab my video tape of Olympic
clips and look it up -- with success!  His name is Louis Zamperini.
I've also found a few web sites with info on him:

http://home.earthlink.net/~toaairfair/lzamp.html

http://www.communityonline.net/users/bernie/LOU.htm   (includes picture)

There is also an article from the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/ARCHIVES/
You can search Zamperini there -- but you will have to pay $1.50 to
download the whole article.

Thanks again to all!

Julie Purdy
Mt. Ararat Middle School
Brunswick, Maine
Julie_Purdy@link75.org

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