47 Days:
On May 27, 1943 Zamperini, along with pilot Russell Allen "Phil" Phillips and Francis "Mac" McNamara , crashed into the ocean on a routine rescue mission. Only Louis, Mac, and Phil survived. Louis knew he was in the best condition so he swam to two rafts, tied them together, and swam back to Phil and Mac. Philip was bleeding heavily from his head, but since he was pilot he was to take command. He asked Louis to take control. Chocolate, water tins, fishing materials, and air pumps in canvas bags were found in the rafts. Mac stayed unusually quiet the first day, and after the first night, it was discovered that he had eaten all of the chocolate. The pain in his back never left he assumed it was only cuts and bruises; in reality, when the plane crashed, he had broken all his ribs. On May 30th, a B-24 flew overhead, but they couldn't be seen through the clouds, it was their best chance of rescue. With little food and no water, they subsisted on captured rainwater in the canvas coverings, which also worked well for hats, and small fish eaten raw. They caught two albatrosses, which they ate and used to catch fish, all while fending off constant shark attacks and nearly being capsized by storms. Their upper lips burned and cracked, ballooning so dramatically that they obstructed their nostrils, while their lower lips bulged against their chins. Their bodies were slashed with open cracks that formed under the sun, salt, wind, and fuel residue. Their feet were cratered with quarter-sized salt sores. Not wanting the other men to go insane Louis asked them questions of every subject. They kept their hunger under control with Louis’ recounts of his mother’s cooking. They were strafed multiple times by a Japanese bomber, which punctured their life raft, but no one was hit. McNamara died after 33 days at sea.
|
|