I just finished reading a book that I urge every American to read: Unbroken. It is a biography about Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned B-24 bombardier during World War II. Louis didn't have an easy life. His parents were Italian immigrants to America and he struggled to fit in. He was beaten up and harassed relentlessly on a daily basis. They didn't have money and barely had enough food to eat due to the Great Depression. However, in high school, he discovered track and became so good at running that he attended the Olympics when he was only sixteen. Everyone said that he was destined for greatness. Essentially, he gave up his dream of winning the Olympics when he enlisting in the military and was assigned the job of a bombardier. He was 24 at the time and was absolutely terrified of flying. On a flight meant to rescue another crashed bomber, Louis' plane went down in the Pacific. Out of an eleven man crew, Louis and only two other men survived the crash. They floated on a life raft for 47 days, fighting off sharks and enduring enemy fire, thirst and starvation. The men were rescued by the Japanese Navy (one man had died by this time) and were sent to POW camps. What he endured at these camps was ten times worse than anything he faced on the life raft. He was tortured, beaten, starved, given stagnant water, suffered with dysentary and dengue fever for months without medical treatment, and forced into slave labor. After over two years in these camps, the war ended and Louis and the other POWs were saved. He weighed 67 pounds. He went into the war weighing in at 154.
What makes Louis a hero is not that he survived these appalling circumstances, but how he handled it in his life afterward. Sure, Louis was a victim and he deserves all the sympathy in the world. He could have spiraled down hill and no one would have blamed him. He in fact did struggle for a while with depression, alcoholism, post traumatic stress, and a rage for his captors that consumed him. However, one day he realized that the life he was leading was not the life he had fought for on that raft in the Pacific or in those horrific camps. He wanted to live a life devoted to God. So, he went home and poured all his alcohol down the drain. He opened a camp for troubled boys. He even traveled to Japan to face the very soldiers that had beaten him, tortured him and denied him his every human right. He forgave them and embraced him. This is what makes him a hero. No one looks up to the guy that spirals out of control and can't put his life back together. Though sympathetic, this is not what inspires people. People are inspired by how someone gets back up after he/she has been knocked down over and over again.
Louis' story touched me in such a way that there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. In my personal struggle, I many times have wondered why me? The emotional pain that I have experienced has been so heartbreaking that I wonder how I can make it through another month. Now when I have these thoughts I think of Louis. Is my pain, emotional or physical, greater than what he experienced? No. When I feel like I can't endure another month, I think of Louis and how he probably wondered every month how much longer he could make it, but still did. Surely, whatever I am experiencing is not nearly as terrible as what he faced, and he now is a happy and healthy man in his 90's that skateboards, hikes and loves his family.
After reading this book, I self reflected on my behavior and attitude. The way I was reacting to my infertility was not inspiring. Crying, sulking and playing the victim, these actions are not admirable. If I never have children and spend my life acting like this, more than likely I will not touch a single soul. However, if I act like Louis did in the face of adversity, maybe my story can inspire another. Now as each month passes, I think to myself, "I can get through this month because eventually my rescue is coming too." When I feel sad about my predicament, I think "Is this worse than a Japanese POW camp?" Hell No.
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Louis Zamperini greeting his family after being rescued.
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