Army Air Corps bombardier, POW is Class of '18 exemplar Published Sept. 10, 2015 By Ray Bowden U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy's Class of 2018 has selected a World War II prisoner of war as its exemplar. The military service of Capt. Louis Zamperini, an Army Air Corps Airman held prisoner by the Japanese after the B-24 he was flying in crashed into the sea, will be honored at the Class of 2018 Exemplar Dinner, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 11 here in Mitchell Hall. Cadet 3rd Class J. Benson Anderson, Jr., an Exemplar Committee official, said Zamperini was selected because he demonstrated the character and conviction the Class of 2018 strives to maintain. "His loyalty in situations of grave hardship provides us with a model for our conduct in the face of severe stress many of us could face in our Air Force careers," Anderson said. Zamperini was born Jan. 26, 1917, in Olean, New York. His family moved to Torrance, California in 1919 and he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941, shortly after the U.S. entered the war. Prior to Zamperini's military service, he was a track star at the University of Southern California. On May 27, 1943, the B-24 he was flying in malfunctioned and crashed into the Pacific Ocean 850 miles north of Oahu, Hawaii. Zamperini and two other survivors, copilot 2nd Lt. Russell Phillips and tail gunner Sgt. Francis McNamara, spent 47 days adrift on a raft, fighting off storms, sharks and starvation. McNamara died after 33 days at sea and Zamperini and Phillips stayed alive by drinking rain water and catching fish before being captured and held prisoner by the Japanese in a prisoner of war camp near Yokohama, Japan. They were released in 1945. Zamperini was legally declared missing at sea and in June 1943, his parents, Anthony and Louise Zamperini, received the following message at their Torrance home regarding his fate: "In grateful memory of First Lieutenant Louis S. Zamperini, A.S. No. 0-663341, who died in the service of his country in the Central Pacific Area." The message continued: "He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives -- in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men." It was signed, "Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States." Anderson said Zamperini's passion and commitment as an officer is a tangible example of how the Class of 2018 will confront the challenges Academy cadets will face as officers. Zamperini died of pneumonia July 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. He was 97. Past Academy exemplars include Gen. Carl Spaatz, Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell and Capt. Lance P. Sijan.