A Press Release from JSerra Catholic
August 2, 2012 (San Juan Capistrano, CA)—JSerra Catholic hosts1936 Olympian, and former World War ll prisoner of war Louis Zamperini for a rare appearance.
Zamperini once a world record holder of the high school 5000-meter for the fastest time, and a graduate of the University of Southern California, joined the United States Air Corps as a bombardier in the South Pacific.
“When you reach the end of your rope and there’s nowhere else to turn,” said Zamperini, “…you’re gonna turn and look up. So that’s all we did on the raft was pray morning, noon and night, [after our plane went down].”
Zamperini’s encouraging journey, has been documented in Pulitzer Prize winning author, Laura Hillenbrand’s latest book, UNBROKEN: Louis Zamperini’s Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.
“Every summer as a school students, faculty, and staff read a book together, this year we read Unbroken, the journey of Mr. Zamperini and for the first time ever we have the honor of hosting him on the JSerra campus,” said Donna Vandenberg, JSerra VP of Student Services.
At 95-years of age, Zamperini is still spry and full of life. He lectures audiences across the globe, on how to deal with stress, the meaning of Olympism, and the freedom he found through a personal relationship with God.
Friday, September 7, 2012 at 11 a.m. Zamperini will share his life’s journey and recent book Unbroken with the JSerra community. This rare speaking engagement is open to the general public and will be held in the JSerra Pavilion.
