Heroes, Bombadiers, and Inspiration

This summer I listened to the audio version of the book "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a breath-taking, agonizing, heart-wrenching, and beautifully redeeming account of the life of Louis Zamperini. There will be some spoilers here, so stop if you don't want to know how the story goes. Louis Zamperini was an olympic runner who later joined the Army Air Corp and was a bombadier in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He was eventually shot down and surived 47 days on a raft fending off sharks and starvation, only to be captured in the end and spending years as a prisoner of war in Japan. The account of his time in Japan is horrific. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did. For some time his life after the war was not a happy one either. Tormented by his nightmares and emotional scars from torture, he drank his way into despair. Then the story finally took a redemptive course change. Louis' wife was going to leave him, but instead she returned to him and talked him into going to see the young Billy Graham at an evangelical revival. He was reminded, and I was reminded, of one of the most beautiful scenes in the book of a moment on the raft. Somewhere near day 47, when all the sea was calm, the sky was blue, and death was knocking at his door, he almost literally saw the hand of God as he felt a peace knowing that despite it all God was aware of him and created that peaceful moment just for Louis. Louis committed to dedicate his life to God, then through his experiences that followed the "rescue from the raft", Louis had lost his way. At the Billy Graham revival he remembered his promise and through what I call the all encompassing miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Louis went on to totally change the painful and destructive path he was on. His torment of mind and body left him, totally, never to return again. He was a new man. It reminded me of Alma chapter 36. In verse 18 it says,

 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

Alma of course is talking about the repentance process, and I don't want to infer that Louis Zamperini's life was a punishment for sins he committed, but I do think that Louis Zamperini went on to live a life of excellence and inspiration because he remembered his pains no more because of the merciful power of the Atonement. 

The man lived exceptionally and lived to be 97 years old. (He was still running a 6 minute mile in his 80's.) 

There were also many "angels" in Zamp's life. I was most impressed by his loving wife who never gave up on him and his faithful brother Pete who stood by his side.

A friend of mine who also listened to the audio version of this book summed up lessons Zamperini's life like this,

"It's in those moments of deep despair, when we are not looking, that we are most vulnerable to the voice of God.  That voice comes to us in many different ways...

-a holy stranger

-a young, vibrant Bill Graham

-a roaming, wandering, seemingly standard-issued missionary

-a loving family member...

These people, these Angels...call us into the Tent, for just a minute, "Come in," they say, "I'll give ya shelter from the storm."  And that's when we begin to see.

We see that all we've been missing all this time has been right in front of us.  And our life experience has prepared us for that one divine, brilliantly inspired moment, when we see the world as it really is - of God."

 (Thank you friend, that was beautifully expressed)

Which brings me to part two of this lengthy blog. The story of Mr. S.

What is a bombadier?

Thank you Wikipedia... "
A bombardier or bomb aimer was the crew member of a bomber aircraft responsible for the targeting of aerial bombs. "Bomb Aimer" was the preferred term in the military forces of the Commonwealth, while "Bombardier" (from the French word for "bomb thrower" and similar in meaning to "grenadier") was the equivalent position in the United States Armed Forces.
In many planes, the bombardier took control of the airplane during the bombing run, using a bombsight such as the Norden bombsight which was connected to the autopilot of the plane. Often stationed in the extreme front of the aircraft, on the way to the target and after releasing the bombs, he could also serve as the front gunner in aircraft that had a front turret."

Louis Zamperini was a bombardier on a B24  (click here for wiki link) aircarft in the Pacific.

Recently I had a patient in my job doing Home Health who is a 91 year old retired military man who spent time in Germany during WWII as a bombardier, on the tail, and as an engineer on a B17 (click here for wiki link). I'll call him Mr. S. I loved my three weeks working with Mr. S. He had great stories about the war and his life since.   He told me about one mission as an engineer. The engineers job was to fix anything that went broken in the plane on a mission. I asked if that meant he had specific training or if he had to wing it. He said mostly he had to wing it. Once the hydralic fluid ran out in something so he just peed in it to last them till they landed. He also told me bombs spin as they dropped if they weren't dropped flat and not nose first. Once he had to use his belt to stop the crank that loaded the bombs. He also told me great blonde jokes each time I went. I asked Mr. S once of all the wars he saw (WWII, Korean, and Vietnam) what is the scarier time to live in, then or now? He said without hesitation, "now, because you don't know how the enemy is". Wise words Mr. S, wise words. How very sobering to hear that the days I live in are scarier then the scary days I read of in books.

I am so glad that my world of a non-fiction novel collided with real life patient who lived in the same time period. It was so sad to me to think that soon those heroes will have all left this earth. I'm grateful my world expanded this summer

Here is to heroes, bombadiers, inspiration, the hand of God, and blonde jokes!

"A blonde was sitting in a row boat in the middle of a corn field. Another blonde drives by, stops the car, gets out and starts yelling at the blonde in the row boat. 'It's women like you that give us a bad name', she yelled. 'If I could swim I'd come out there and slap you!' "

Thank you Mr. S.