LOUIS ZAMPERINI TO BE ON DAVID LETTERMAN TONIGHT - Olympian at 5000m, WW2 POW

I'm also an atheist, and I didn't find the book preachy at all. Of course it does talk about religion (mostly toward the end), but not in an obtrusive way. Honestly, as much as I may not share his beliefs, I can still see that religion played an important role in the way that his life went after the war, so it would be nearly impossible to tell his story in an accurate way without mentioning religion at all.

Even if you can't bring yourself to read the parts about religion, I would still recommend reading the book up to that point (I've loaned the book to a friend so I can't check, but as I recall his conversion doesn't occur until more than 75% of the way through the book, and there's very little mention of religion prior to that). It's a fascinating story, and I disagree with a previous poster who said that the book was poorly written. It also gives an interesting glimpse at a part of WWII (the Eastern Front) that we usually don't hear very much about.

You can read an excerpt of the book here to see if you like the writing style:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/12/unbroken-excerpt-201012?currentPage=all

Olympic medalist Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted in the 1960s since he did not want to participate in the U.S. Genocide of South East Asia. L.Z. could have refused to be drafted. But no, he got busted 15,000 miles away from home an unauthorized terrorist in someone else's country. He's luucy to be alive. He'd be dead today if Islamic Freedom Soldiers caught him in Israel.

Say to to Genocide wrote:

L.Z. could have refused to be drafted.

He did.

I completely agree ... the book is about the man, not his religion. It's a great story.

HK Nobel wrote:

Henry Kissinger went to Beijing, China and apologized on behalf of the United States and Europe. But no reparations were offered for 400 years of unspeakable atrocities by the US and Europe against the people of Asia.

Honestly though, there is no sense bringing up the failed imperial dreams and lost wars of our ancestors. Just let bygones be bygones. Unfortunately there will always be sponges like Zamperini who play the victim game. Look at NYPD and FDNY for another example.

Kissinger did not apologize for anything.

Besdies I doubt they would have noticed. They were too busy oppressing their own people.

I personally believe we had no business going into Iraq or Vit Nam. That doesn't mean there aren't stories of bravery and courage that came out of those conflicts. I had friends drafted into the service who lost their lives and limbs. I would never think of having anything adverse to say about their sacrifice. If you want to blame Teddy Roosevelt for his policy on Asia I don't have a problem. To somehow blame Zamperini is absurd.

The US blames each Islamic Freedom Fighter and holds them accountable at Guantanemo Bay, kills them with drones, etc. So the same holds true for people who participated in the failed Eur/US campaign to conquer Asia from the 1500s until 1975.

Imperialism is an act of War. The Catholic Church via the Portugese proxies started the war with Asia by invading Taiwan and Phillipines. The Spanish, British, French, Canadians, Germans, Russians, Belgians, Australians, New Zealanders, Dutch, etc. eventually joined the imperial adventure. The results of the invasions were over 100,000,000 Asians were murdered from 1500-1975.

Vote for Obama 2012 wrote:

Imperialism is an act of War. The Catholic Church via the Portugese proxies started the war with Asia by invading Taiwan and Phillipines. The Spanish, British, French, Canadians, Germans, Russians, Belgians, Australians, New Zealanders, Dutch, etc. eventually joined the imperial adventure. The results of the invasions were over 100,000,000 Asians were murdered from 1500-1975.

OK and somehow that makes Zamperini responsible??

So why wasn't he on Letterman?

Personally I found it to be a bloody good read from a fascinating era about a very gutsy guy (and I am anti-war and an atheist !).

There's no excuse for war crimes or any crime for that matter. If you are ordered to commit genocide by a superior officer then and you obey the order then you are guilty. Zamp is guilty of conspiracy to commit war crimes against Asians.

Think I'm being a hard ass ?

Look at Presidents Bush and Obama. Those tow Presidents have kept 1,000s of permament hostages in Guantanemo Bay, millions in gulags in Israel and they pays other countries to maintain refugee camps. Plus they have murdered 100,000 of innocent white caucasian and semitic/mulatto brown people for the crime of being Muslims.

So Zamp falls under the same rules and is a war criminal in my eyes.

His autobiography delves more into his religious conversion. I found nothing wrong with it. It seems to work for him and that is all that really should matter unless somehow his beliefs impact you (or whoever is complaining).

OK and somehow that makes Zamperini responsible??

Do you know who favors torturing prisoners of war:

Alan Deshowitz

Leon Panetta

George W Bush

Hillary Clinton

Barack Obama

Michelle Bachman

Yousef Lieberman

Mitt Romney

Rick Perry

Dick Cheney

the list goes on...

Thus, you can't blame other countries who torture, rape, and dismember alive, their POWs.

Interesting that Hanoi POWs John McCain, Admiral Gordon Nakagawa (famous amongst veterans for being one of the two of 500 US POWs who never confessed), and others don't support torture I'm sure because they know how it feels.

I've got to believe it is the same poster who continues to try to make a point that has nothing to do with the topic. Zamperini has a personal story of survival that is told in the book which is inspiring on many levels. Dismissing that is to dismiss the stories of hundreds of millions of Americans over the past 4 centuries who have no business being here. The same can be said of any Australian or New Zealand hero. Those from northern Europe, Canada, South America,....where does it stop?

Chinese Chicken wrote:

So why wasn't he on Letterman?

From CBS:

Hi!

Due to scheduling conflicts with Louis Zamperini and his representation we were unfortunately unable to have him as a guest for the scheduled Monday, 10/24/2011 show.

We are doing everything we can to reschedule for a later date and have him on the program. Thank you for your interest in the show and thank you for your continuous viewership.

-Your pals at the LATE SHOW

O.K. Try and invade Asia again like you did and you'll get your ass reamed like McCain and Zaperini did.

He won't join. Letsrun is full of blowhards who were never grunts.

I hope LZ apologizes to Oriental race for what he did to them in their land. Kissinger apologized and look at the benefits we obtained from that wonderful gesture.