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I just finished reading two great books. First one is about the War on Terror and the other one is from WWII.
"Seal Target Geronimo" by Chuck Pfarrer. It's about the taking out of Osama Bin Laden with some good history regarding the Navy Seals.
"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand The ordeal of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini and his compatriots in WWII Japanese POW camps.

One incident in "Unbroken" regarding a chocolate bar reminded me of the unselfishness I read about the survivors of the "U.S.S. Indianapolis". A PBY picked up six or seven sailors after their long ordeal and when offered the only can of water on the plane passed it down the line to the last man to begin sipping their portions. The Seals in "Seal Target Geronimo" are no less self sacrificing in there actions.

"Unbroken" is one of my favorite books of all time, and Louie Zamperini is one of my personal heros of all time. The book starts out as a chronicle of the amazing life of an amazing person with an interesting story to tell, and it becomes more than just interesting, transcending into a tale of personal greatness AND God's goodness and His reconciliation, all to God's glory.....without getting all preachy/churchy. Just a darn good read all the way around.

The Annoyed Man wrote:"Unbroken" is one of my favorite books of all time, and Louie Zamperini is one of my personal heros of all time. The book starts out as a chronicle of the amazing life of an amazing person with an interesting story to tell, and it becomes more than just interesting, transcending into a tale of personal greatness AND God's goodness and His reconciliation, all to God's glory.....without getting all preachy/churchy. Just a darn good read all the way around.

TAM, Great mini-review!

Thanks for the heads-up regarding "Unbroken." My father was of that generation and was like that!

Here's the Kindle link for Unbroken.

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It is too bad that we lost Mr. Zamperini not too long ago.

The Annoyed Man wrote:It is too bad that we lost Mr. Zamperini not too long ago.

Yes it is, TAM. I posted this on the day he passed. It didn't generate much action; I probably should have used his name. I'm looking forward to the movie though I wonder how Ms. Jolie will treat his religious convictions.
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+1 for Unbroken

Great story about a great American

puma guy wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:It is too bad that we lost Mr. Zamperini not too long ago.

Yes it is, TAM. I posted this on the day he passed. It didn't generate much action; I probably should have used his name. I'm looking forward to the movie though I wonder how Ms. Jolie will treat his religious convictions.
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So did you get to answer your question by seeing Unbroken today? I'll be interested in your review of the movie. Might want to see if it well rated and his beliefs are fairly treated.

Unbroken is one of the best books I've read. TAM summarized it well.

I went and saw Unbroken yesterday afternoon.

It was an excellent movie, and it was more or less faithful to the book......it just didn't include a large part of the book. The movie followed everything pretty accurately right up to his repatriation after the war. But they only give about 5 minutes to the last 25% of the book, and it is in the form of a slide-show with captions.

Zamperini's contribution to mankind did not end with his release from captivity. They covered his years of PTSD and alcoholism with one photo and caption. They covered his religious conversion at a Billy Graham crusade with one photo and caption. I don't think they even mentioned that he founded a famous boys camp in the mountains above Los Angeles. After a half-dozen or so of these slides/captions, the jump ahead to his running with the torch in the olympics at age 80..... and then that's the end of the movie.

So, it was well-made in terms of production values and acting. I would say it was worth seeing. However.........and this is just from my own perspective as a Christian......that part of Zamperini's life were given short-thrift. It's not that they were disrespectful of it, but they just didn't cover it very much, and yet that is a central theme of the book. So, I both liked the movie and was left a little disappointed and wanting more.

Thank you, TAM, for your response which is precisely what I was seeking. So I won't be seeing the movie as the real story just "slides" by - almost ignored or given short shrift. Much obliged TAM.