Mutsuhiro Watanabe
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Sergeant Mutsuhiro Watanabe, nicknamed "The Bird" by his prisoners, was a Japanese soldier who served in several prisoner-of-war camps during World War II. Infamous for his mistreatment of Allied pris
Mutsuhiro Watanabe
Louis Zamperini
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Louis Silvie Zamperini was an American World War II veteran, Olympic distance runner, and Christian evangelist. He began running in high school and qualified for the United States in the 5,000 m event
Mutsuhiro Watanabe
…punched in the face every night for three weeks and practiced judo on an appendectomy patient. One of his prisoners was American track star and Olympian Louis Zamperini. Zamperini reported that Watanabe beat his prisoners often, causing them serious injuries. Watanabe made one officer sit in a shack, wearing only a…
Zamperini in 1943
Zamperini wearing a Torrance High School track uniform, 1938
Japanese-occupied Nauru Island under attack by Liberator bombers of the Seventh Air Corps, April 1943.
Zamperini examines a hole in his B-24D Liberator Super Man made by a 20 mm shell over Nauru.