On Christmas Day, Americans will begin to learn a lot more about war hero and Olympic athlete, Louis Zamperini, when his life story will be the subject of a major motion picture entitled, “Unbroken.”
Long-time Los Alamitos resident Grant Parker will be watching with strong interest, as he has found himself inspired by and loosely connected to Louis over the past 40 years. Though he never met Louis until 2011, Grant was coached by Louis’ brother Pete, at Banning High school in the mid ‘50s.
Louis story began as a troubled adolescent, who was a petty thief, before his older brother Pete, influenced his brother to change and inspired him to achieve through track. Grant said Pete spoke often of his brother, mostly regarding his track exploits. Louis was the national collegiate mile champion for USC and later ran in the 1936 Olympics before joining the Army and serving in World War II.
“He always raved about his brother,” Grant said of Pete.
After high school, Grant moved on through life, at times coming across more information about Louis and taking the lessons he learned from Pete with him. Louis was a prisoner of war survivor, after his B24 Bomber crashed into the ocean. Upon finally returning home, Louis is said to have struggled with his experience and the post-traumatic stress syndrome.
But he would eventually turn his life around. He became a Christian, and started using his experiences to help youths. All the while, Grant continued to find stories about Louis in newspapers and magazines, and even a chapter in a book about high-profile Christians that was given to him, when he himself became a Christian in 1971.
Grant wondered why a book had never been written about Louis as a true American hero? A book was finally written by acclaimed author Laura Hillenbrand in 2010. It jumped to the New York Times Bestseller list and Grant began buying copies for friends and family as gifts. His hope was to share the inspiration he had gotten from Pete and reading about Louis.
Then in 2011, he received a gift for himself. A friend had invited him to hear Louis speak at a Boy Scouts Council meeting in Long Beach. Grant gathered his memorabilia on Louis and went eagerly to hear him. Afterward, he finally had the chance to meet the man, who had inspired him and who he was connected to by the inspiration they both received from Pete.
“He just kind of beamed,” Grant said of Louis’ reaction to his sharing of his experience with Pete.
Among the things that Grant brought with him, was his 1956 yearbook from Banning High. Louis signed the book right next to his brother’s signature from 55 years prior. Pete had died in 2008. At one point Louis was listed as Killed in Action, by the U.S. government, though his actual death would come until July 2, 2014, at the age of 97. Grant might know more about Louis than anyone who hasn’t written a book or made a movie about him. So you can bet he’ll be watching eagerly when the life story of Louis hits the big screen. And you can bet he’ll continue to be inspired by the two brothers.