Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

19

Phil meets Smith: George Smith, letter to Cecy Perry, June 19, 1943.

20

Corpening’s plane: Missing Air Crew Report 4945, May 26, 1943 (National Archives Microfiche Publication M13801, Fiche 1767); Missing Air Crew Reports of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942–1947; Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, RG 92; NACP.

Chapter 11: “Nobody’s Going to Live Through This”

1

Louie on May 27, 1943: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

2

“There was only one ship”: Louis Zamperini, diary, May 27, 1943.

3

If we’re not back in a week:

Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

4

Search preparations: John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Missing Aircraft Report 4945, Missing Air Crew Reports of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942–1947; Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, RG 92; NACP; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

5

Preparing for takeoff: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

6

Planes side by side: Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005.

7

Phil tells Deasy to go ahead: Kelsey Phillips, “A Life Story,” unpublished memoir.

8

Searching: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

9

Phil and Cuppernell switch seats: Kelsey Phillips, “A Life Story,” unpublished memoir; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

10

Engine dies, wrong engine feathered: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

11

“Prepare to crash”: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.

12

Plane falls: Ibid.

13

Nobody’s going to live through this:

Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.

14

Louie and Phil’s experiences in crash: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Robert Trumbull, “Zamperini, Olympic Miler, Is Safe After Epic Ordeal,”

NYT

, September 9, 1945; Kelsey Phillips, “A Life Story,” unpublished memoir; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hollywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA; Sandra Provan, “LP Man’s Part of Olympics,”

La Porte Herald-Argus

, February 18, 1988.

PART III

Chapter 12: Downed