9 “a volcano-like mass”: Charles P. Arnot, “Raid on Nauru Told in Detail by Eyewitness,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN.
10 Eight hundred rounds per minute: “Pistol Packin’ Warplanes,” Popular Mechanics, April 1944, p. 2.
11 If he’d just: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, August 26, 2004.
12 “Ow!”: Ibid.
13 One more pass: Louis Zamperini, diary, April 1943, memoranda page.
14 I have to kill: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, August 26, 2004.
15 Japanese never retrieved phosphates: Jane Resture, “Nauru: A Short History,” http://www.janeresture.com/nauru_history/index.htm (accessed September 13, 2009).
16 Pillsbury’s injuries: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, August 26, 2004; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, April 20–22, 1943, and memoranda page.
17 Manual alternatives to flaps, gear: Flight Manual: B-24D, pp. 71–75.
18 standard landing speed: Charlie Tilghman, B-24 pilot, Commemorative Air Force, telephone interview, February 14, 2007; B-24 Liberator Pilot Training Manual.
19 B-24 without brakes needed 10,000 feet: Charlie Tilghman, B-24 pilot, Commemorative Air Force, telephone interview, February 14, 2007.
20 “all torn to pieces” Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, August 26, 2004.
21 Parachute idea: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, August 26, 2004; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, April 1943, memoranda page.
22 Belle of Texas: Cleveland, pp. 183, 464; 11th Bomb Group (H), The Gray Geese (Paducah, Ky.: Turner Publishing, 1996), p. 73.
23 594 holes: Charles McMurtry, “Liberator, Hit 594 Times, Wings Home Safely,” Richmond News Leader, May 14, 1943.
24 “He didn’t make it”: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interview, March 9, 2005.
25 Brooks family informed: “Sergt. H. V. Brooks Served in Pacific,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN.
Chapter 10: The Stinking Six
1 Funafuti bombing: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, August 18, 2006, January 23 and April 21, 2007; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, diary, April 21–23, 1943; John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005; Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005; Jesse Stay, telephone interviews, July 23, 2004, and March 16, 2005; Frank Rosynek, “Not Everybody Wore Wings,” unpublished memoir; Frank Rosynek, email interview, June 15, 2005; Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, May 1, 1943; Cleveland, p. 346; Britt, pp. 36–37; Howard and Whitley, pp. 138–44; Jesse Stay, “Twenty-nine Months in the Pacific,” unpublished memoir; Louis Zamperini, interview by George Hodak, Hollywood, Calif., June 1988, AAFLA.
2 “I looked around”: John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005.
3 Man runs into ocean: Howard and Whitley, p. 140.
4 Ladd saves natives: Howard and Whitley, p. 139; Philip Scearce, email interview, July 11, 2008.
5 “This feels like it, boys”: Howard and Whitley, p. 140.
6 “like animals crying”: Ibid., p. 143.
7 “I wasn’t only scared”: Cleveland, p. 258.
8 Phil’s fear: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Reverend Russell Phillips, May 2, 1943.
9 “seemed like a railroad carload”: Frank Rosynek, “Not Everybody Wore Wings,” unpublished memoir.
10 “like the whole island”: Cleveland, p. 346.
11 Fourteen Japanese bombers: Britt, pp. 36–37.
12 “the Stinking Six”: Frank Rosynek, email interview, June 15, 2005.
13 Doctor works on Pillsbury: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, August 18, 2006, January 23 and April 21, 2007.
14 “hamburgered”: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 27, 2004, March 9, 2005, August 18, 2006, January 23 and April 21, 2007.
15 Lambert’s ninety-five missions: “Catonsville Air Gunner Has 95 Raids to Credit,” undated article from Phillips scrapbook, NPN.
16 Palmyra, depression, Kualoa: Louis Zamperini, diary, April–May 1943.
17 Francis McNamara: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
18 Green Hornet: Cleveland, p. 159; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
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
1 Crash aftermath: 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.
2 “I’m glad it was you”: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
3 Phil didn’t have bracelet, silver dollar: Ibid.
4 Contents of rafts: Ibid.
5 Contents of 1944 rafts: Emergency Procedure: B-24, pp. 26–27.
6 “Gibson Girl,” Delano Sunstill: Louis Meulstee, “Gibson Girl,” Wireless for the Warrior, http://home.hccnet.nl/l.meulstee/gibsongirl/gibsongirl.html (accessed August 8, 2005); Craven and C
ate, pp. 486, 491.
7 “We’re going to die!”: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
8 Hours after crash: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; “Mr. Phillips on CBS, Our Hero, Mr. Phillips,” undated article from papers of Karen Loomis, NPN; Gene Stowe, “He Shared Raft with Olympian,” South Bend Herald Tribune, March 2, 1998.
9 Phil shaking, sharks rubbing against rafts: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
Chapter 13: Missing at Sea
1 Events on Palmyra: John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005; Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005.
2 Search: John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005; Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005; “42nd Bombardment Squadron history,” AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
3 “we kept hoping”: Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005.
4 Chocolate incident: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview. For the sake of Mac and his family, Louie would not tell of the chocolate incident for many years, instead saying either that the chocolate had been eaten early in the journey or that it had been lost to the sea. Phil, too, would protect Mac, saying that the chocolate was lost in the sea.
5 B-25 flies over: 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; Louis Zamperini, POW diary (entered when Louie began keeping diary, after October 1943). In later years, Zamperini would speak of the B-24 flying over before the B-25, but in all of his early accounts, including the history he gave to his squadron upon repatriation and the diary he kept as a POW, he stated that the B-25 flew over first. In a 2008 interview, he confirmed that his early accounts were correct.
6 B-24 flies over: See note above, about B-25 flying over; also: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; John Joseph Deasy, telephone interview, April 4, 2005; Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005; “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; Louis Zamperini, POW diary, May 30, 1943 entry (entered when Louie began keeping diary, after October 1943).
7 “If we ever looked”: Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005.
8 Smitty sightings: 42nd squadron activity log, May 30, 1943, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
9 “Cuppernell, Phillips, Zamperini”: Cleveland, p. 159.
10 Mac snaps: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
11 Louie prays: Ibid.
12 Letters home, Zamperinis see Cuppernells: Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Reverend Russell Phillips, May 15, 1943; Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Cecy Perry, May 15, 1943; Peter Zamperini, letter to Louis Zamperini, June 3, 1943; Payton Jordan, telephone interviews, August 13, 16, 2004; Louis Zamperini, letter to Payton Jordan, May 27, 1943.
13 “I sure hope”: Reverend Russell Phillips, letter to Martha Heustis, May 6, 1943.
14 Search ends: Lester Herman Scearce, Jr., telephone interview, March 11, 2005.
15 Krey visits cottage: Jack Krey, telephone interview, August 18, 2005.
16 Telegram to Kelsey Phillips: telegram, Adjutant General to Kelsey Phillips, June 4, 1943.
17 Zamperinis react: Sylvia Flammer, telephone interviews, October 25, 27, 2004; Peter Zamperini, telephone interviews, October 15, 17, 19, 22, 2004.
18 “Life of Zamp”: George T. Davis, “Zamperini Career Brilliant, Life of Zamp,” Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, June 5, 1943.
19 Jordan learns news: Payton Jordan, telephone interviews, August 13, 16, 2004.
20 Louise’s hand sores: Sylvia Flammer, telephone interviews, October 25, 27, 2004.
21 Pillsbury and Douglas: Stanley Pillsbury, telephone interviews, August 25, 2004, March 9, 2005, and August 18, 2006.
22 Pillsbury’s remainder of war: Ibid.
23 Flag hung: Jack Cuddy, “Flag Hangs in Memory of Zamperini,” Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Journal, June 24, 1943.
Chapter 14: Thirst
1 Heat: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Robert Trumbull, “Zamperini, Olympic Miler, Is Safe After Epic Ordeal,” NYT, September 9, 1945.
2 Rain falls, catching water: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
3 Phil cold at night: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
4 Phil thought birds must have thought them jetsam: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
5 Catching albatross: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
6 Fishing: “42nd Bombardment Squadron: Addendum to Squadron History,” September 11, 1945, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
7 What more bad luck could they have?: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
8 Sniffing wax: Ibid.
9 Phil’s thoughts of Rickenbacker: Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997; Russell Allen Phillips, letter to Kelsey Phillips, March 10, 1943.
10 Rickenbacker’s ordeal: Edward Rickenbacker, “Pacific Mission, Part I,” Life, January 25, 1943, pp. 20–26, 90–100; Edward Rickenbacker, “Pacific Mission, Part III,” Life, February 8, 1943, pp. 94–106; Edward Rickenbacker, Seven Came Through (Garden City: Doubleday, 1951).
11 Navy men survive on raft in 1942: Robert Trumbull, The Raft (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1942).
12 Poon Lim: “Tells of 132 Days on Raft,” NYT, May 25, 1943 (title was incorrect as to number of days); “Poon Lim,” Fact Archive, http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Poon_Lim (accessed September 15, 2009).
13 Phil thinking of how long they’d been floating: Russell Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
14 Quizzing: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
15 Mac’s withdrawal: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
16 “If there was one thing left”: Russell Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997. 147 Phil’s faith: Karen Loomis, telephone interview, November 17, 2004.
17 “I had told Al”: Reverned Russell Phillips, letter to Martha Heustis, May 6, 1943.
18 Bodies declining: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
19 Cannibalism: Neil Hanson, The Custom of the Sea: A Shocking True Tale of Shipwreck, Murder, and the Last Taboo (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1999); Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea (New York: Viking, 2000).
21 Cannibalism not considered: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
22 Praying, second albatross, catching fish, bandage rotting: Ibid.
23 Dolphins: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Russell Allen Phillips, television interview, CBS, La Porte, Ind., January 1997.
24 Hooks on fingers: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Page 47