Torrance’s Own Hometown Hero Passes On

Torrance High School Graduate and World War II Veteran, Louis Zamperini Dies at 97

The remarkable Luis Zamperini recently passed. He was a remarkable man, who overcame numerous challenges throughout his life. A Torrance High School graduate class of 1935,An Olympian as a 5,000 meter runner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

HE fought as a bombardier during World War II, and crashed in the Pacific Ocean during a reconnaissance mission. He and one of the other surviving crew members drifted for 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters before being captured by Japanese forces. He spent more than two years as a prisoner of war, surviving torture.

He was scheduled to be leading the 2015 Rose Parade, and will instead be honored still as the Grand Marshall.