Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption (71 page)

15 Louie’s nightmares, drinking, decline, resolution to kil the Bird: Louis Zamperini, telephone interviews.

Chapter 36: The Body on the Mountain

1 Manhunt: Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Sgt.), vols. 1–3, 1945–1952, POW 201 File 1945–1947, SCAP, Legal Section, Administrative Division, RAOOH, RG 331, NACP.

2 Officer’s visit: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

3 Watanabe’s flight and quotes in this section: Ibid.

4 Conviction rates: John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: Norton, 1999), p. 447.

5 Ofuna convictions: “Jap Officers to Be Hanged for POW Brutality,” San Mateo (Calif.) Times, October 13, 1948; Wil iam R. Gil and Davis P.

Newton, “A Compilation of Biographical Source Documents Concerning Major Wil iam Herald Walker, U.S. Army Air Force (1919–1945), a Prisoner of War in Japan During World War I ,” 1999; “8th Army Commission Court Gives Sentence to POW Torturers,” Pacific Stars and Stripes, February 29, 1948.

6 Naoetsu convictions: Lyon, pp. 49–51.

7 Sasaki’s capture, trial, imprisonment: Kunichi Sasaki and James Kunichi Sasaki records from RG 331, RAOOH, WWI , 1907–1966, SCAP, Legal Section, Administration Division and Prosecution Division, NACP: Kunichi Sasaki, Isamu Sato, Kazuo Akane, 1945–1948, Investigation and Interrogation Reports; Nakakichi Asoma et al., trial, exhibits, appeal, and clemency files; Nakakichi Asoma et al., 1945–1952, POW 201 File, 1945

–1952, Charges and Specifications, 1945–1948.

8 Kano: Martindale, pp. 230, 240; Gamble, p. 339; Yukichi Kano, “Statement of Yukichi Kano, Tokio P.O.W. Camp H.Q. (Omori),” undated, from papers of Robert Martindale; Yukichi Kano, SCAP, Legal Section, Administration Division (10/02/1945–04/28/1952), File Unit from RG 331: RAOOH, WWI 1907–1966, Series POW 201 File, 1945–1952, NACP.

9 Kato accused of kicking a man nearly to death: Martindale, p. 141.

10 “Cross my heart”: Yukichi Kano, “Statement of Yukichi Kano, Tokio P.O.W. Camp H.Q. (Omori),” undated, from papers of Robert Martindale.

11 “I thought I”: Yukichi Kano, letter to Robert Martindale, December 23, 1955.

12 Watanabe in hiding: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

13 Intensified manhunt: Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Sgt.), vols. 1–3, 1945–1952, POW 201 File 1945–1947, SCAP, Legal Section, Administrative Division, RAOOH, RG 331, NACP.

14 Watanabe goes to Tokyo: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

15 “You have plenty of room”: Ibid.

16 Watanabe approached for arranged marriage: Ibid.

17 “if she liked books”: Ibid.

18 “a burden which would make her unhappy”: Ibid.

19 Watanabe becomes cowherd: Ibid.

20 Bodies found on Mitsumine: “From Chief of Hyogo Prefectural Police Force,” November 21, 1950, report, from papers of Frank Tinker; Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Sgt.), vols. 1–3, 1945–1952, POW 201 File 1945–1947, SCAP, Legal Section, Administrative Division, RAOOH, RG 331, NACP.

21 Shizuka taken to body: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

22 Watanabe’s death announced: Ibid.

Chapter 37: Twisted Ropes

1 Louie plans to go back to Japan: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

2 Louie’s decline, troubled marriage: Ric Applewhite, telephone interview, March 12, 2008; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Payton Jordan, telephone interviews, August 13, 16, 2004; Peter Zamperini, telephone interview, October 22, 2004; Sylvia Flammer, telephone interviews, October 25, 27, 2004.

3 “nails every one of us”: Améry, p. 68.

4 Shizuka sees dead son: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

Chapter 38: A Beckoning Whistle

1 Relatives think dead man is Mutsuhiro: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

2 Shizuka believes Mutsuhiro is alive, Mutsuhiro promises to return: Ibid.

3 Authorities question identity of body, tail family: “From Chief of Hyogo Prefectural Police Force,” November 21, 1950, report, from papers of Frank Tinker; Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

4 Meeting at restaurant: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

5 Shizuka refers to deaths at Mitsumine: “From Chief of Hyogo Prefectural Police Force,” November 21, 1950, report, from papers of Frank Tinker.

6 Rumors: Martindale, p. 248; Frank Tinker, telephone interview, February 20, 2005; Johan Arthur Johansen, Krigsseileren, issue 1, 1991, translated from Norwegian by Nina B. Smith.

7 if I am alive: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

8 Bil y Graham history: Cliff Barrows, Graham musical director, telephone interview, February 22, 2007; Bil y Graham, Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (HarperSanFrancisco and Zondervan, 1997), pp. 92–158.

9 Los Angeles campaign: Graham, pp. 143–158; “Bil y Graham Acclaimed: Crusade Continues as Over 300,000 Attend,” Van Nuys (Calif.) News, November 17, 1949; “Old Fashioned Revival Hits Los Angeles,” Gettysburg (Pa.) Times, November 2, 1949.

10 Movie contract: Virginia MacPherson, “Preacher Laughs Off Film Offers to Make Him Star,” San Mateo (Calif.) Times, November 12, 1949.

11 Louie and Cynthia meet neighbor: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

12 Cynthia goes to Graham: Ibid.; Cliff Barrows, Graham musical director, telephone interview, February 22, 2007.

13 Dinner at Sylvia’s: Sylvia Flammer, telephone interviews, October 25, 27, 2004.

14 Cynthia talks Louie into seeing Graham: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

15 Graham exhausted, doesn’t recognize daughter: Graham, pp. 156–57.

16 Train whistle: Bil y Graham, “The Only Sermon Jesus Ever Wrote,” Los Angeles, October 22, 1949, audio recording, BGEA.

17 Louie’s impression of Graham: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

18 Graham’s sermon, Louie’s reaction: Bil y Graham, “The Only Sermon Jesus Ever Wrote,” Los Angeles, October 22, 1949, BGEA; Louis Zamperini, telephone interviews.

19 Cynthia gets Louie to return to Graham: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

20 Graham’s second sermon, Louie’s reaction: Ibid.; Bil y Graham, “Why God Al ows Communism to Flourish and Why God Al ows Christians to Suffer,” Los Angeles, October 23, 1949, BGEA.

21 Louie’s last flashback: Louis Zamperini, telephone interviews.

22 Louie and Cynthia return home: Ibid.

23 Louie at park, new view of his life: Ibid.

Chapter 39: Daybreak

1 Louie goes to Sugamo: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hol ywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA.

2 Shizuka goes to see son: “From Chief of Hyogo Prefectural Police Force,” November 21, 1950, police report.

3 “Mutsuhiro,” Shizuka had said: Ibid.

4 Shizuka’s shrine: Frank Tinker, telephone interview, February 20, 2005.

5 Louie at Sugamo: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

1 Victory Boys Camp: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hol ywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA.

2 Louie’s postwar life: John Hal , “Lou and Pete,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1977; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hol ywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA; Morris Schulatsky, “Olympic Miler at 19, Skateboards at 70,” undated article from papers of Peter Zamperini, NPN; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Cynthia Zamperini Garris, telephone interview, December 13, 2008.

3 “When I get old”: National Geographic Channel, “Riddles of the Dead: Execution Island,” October 13, 2002.

4 “When God wants”: Peter Zamperini, telephone interview, December 12, 2006.

5 Not angry for forty years: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

6 Fal s down stairs, stays in hospital: Ibid.; Cynthia Zamperini Garris, telephone interview, December 13, 2008.

7 “I never knew anyone”: Peter Zamperini, telephone interview, October 17, 2004.

8 Phil’s postwar years: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004; Monroe and Phoebe Bormann, telephone interview, June 7, 2005.

9 Phil’s irritation: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004.

10 This Is Your Life: Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hol ywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA.

11 “Dad must have”: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004.

12 “a little grin underneath”: Ibid.

12 “a little grin underneath”: Ibid.

13 Life, death of Harris: Katey Meares, email interviews, March 14, 17, 18, 27, 2008; Whitcomb, pp. 286–87; Edwin H. Simmons, Frozen Chosin: U.S. Marines at the Changjin Reservoir (Darby, Pa.: Diane Publishing), p. 94; “Jamestown Man Gets Navy Cross,” Newport Daily News, December 6, 1951; “Marine Officer Missing in Korea,” Newport Mercury and Weekly News , December 29, 1950.

14 Pete’s life, death, Cynthia’s death: Peter Zamperini, telephone interviews, October 15, 17, 19, 22, 2004; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

15 Louie learns the Bird is alive: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

16 Watanabe’s return: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

17 Pressure to resolve war-crimes issue: Piccigal o, p. 47; Daws, p. 373; Awaya Kentaro, “The Tokyo Tribunal, War Responsibility and the Japanese People,” Shukan Kinboyi, December 23, 2005, translated by Timothy Amos; Ernie Hil , “Japan’s Revival,” Oakland Tribune, March 17, 1953.

18 “Christmas amnesty”: “Amnesty for 17 Top Jap War Suspects,” Lowell (Mass.) Sun, December 24, 1948; Dower, p. 454.

19 Kishi: Michael Schal er, “America’s Favorite War Criminal: Kishi Nobusuke and the Transformation of U.S.-Japan Relations,” This Is Yomiuri, August 1995.

20 Many defendants believed to be guilty: “Amnesty for 17 Top Jap War Suspects,” Lowell (Mass.) Sun, December 24, 1948.

21 Last man tried: Tom Lambert, “Last Trial Held on War Crimes by U.S. Tribunal,” Stars and Stripes, October 20, 1949; “Al Known Japanese War Criminals Brought to Trial,” Independent (Long Beach, Calif.), October 20, 1949.

22 Sentences reduced: “War Criminal Is Due Parole,” Lubbock Evening Journal, March 7, 1950.

23 Treaty of Peace and reparations: Gary Reynolds, U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II: The Issue of Compensation by Japan, Congressional Research Service, December 17, 2002, pp. 3–9, 9–10.

24 Order for apprehension revoked: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

25 War criminals paroled, amnesty declared: Daws, p. 373; “U.S. Pardons Last 83 Japan War Criminals,” Stars and Stripes, December 31, 1958.

26 Watanabe blames war, not self: Mutsuhiro Watanabe, “I Do Not Want to Be Punished by America,” Bingei Shunjyu, April 1956, translated from Japanese.

27 “I was just in a great joy”: Ibid.

28 Watanabe’s postexile life: Lyon, p. 63; Martindale, p. 250.

29 Visited America, rumors that the Bird is alive: Draggan Mihailovich, email interview, August 3, 2007; Martindale, p. 249.

30 Daily Mail interviews with the Bird, Wade: Peter Hadfield and Clare Henderson, “Deathcamp Monster Final y Says I’m Sorry,” Daily Mail (London), August 20, 1995.

31 Naoetsu park movement: Yoshi Kondo, email interview, February 14, 2009; Shoichi Ishizuka, “About Naoetsu POW Camp,” Gaiko Forum, June 2006.

32 Mihailovich seeks the Bird, interview: Draggan Mihailovich, email interview, August 3, 2007; CBS Television, “48 Hours: Race to Freedom,” 1998.

33 Louie writes to the Bird: Louis Zamperini, letter to Mutsuhiro Watanabe, May 19, 1997; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

34 The Bird refuses to see Louie: Draggan Mihailovich, email interview, August 3, 2007.

35 Watanabe dies: Yuichi Hatto, written interview, July 16, 2004.

36 Louie runs with torch: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Chris Boyd, “Legendary Zamperini Carries the ‘Eternal Flame,’ ” Palos Verdes Peninsula News, March 5, 1998; R. J. Kel y, “Olympic Torch Relay Rekindles Ex-POWs Flame of Forgiveness,” Stars and Stripes, January 30, 1998;

“Zamperini: War Survival Was a Matter of Miracles,” Stars and Stripes, January 26, 1998.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LAURA HILLENBRAND is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsel er Seabiscuit: An American Legend , which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award and the Wil iam Hil Sports Book of the Year award, landed on more than fifteen best-of-the-year lists, and inspired the film Seabiscuit, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Hil enbrand’s New Yorker article, “A Sudden Il ness,” won the 2004 National Magazine Award, and she is a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award, the highest journalistic honor in thoroughbred racing. She and actor Gary Sinise are the co-founders of Operation International Children, a charity that provides school supplies to children through American troops. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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