Louis Zamperini and his lifetime of forgiveness

Louis Zamperini won’t get to be at the premier of the movie about his incredible life. He won’t get to fulfill his appointment as next year’s Rose Bowl parade grand marshall. He died this morning at age 97, more proof that life isn’t fair.

He was so impressive as a track and field star at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, that Hitler requested a personal meeting with him.

A few years later, his B-24 went down in the Pacific in World War II and he and his mates spent almost two months adrift on a raft before he was captured by the Japanese, and tortured for the duration of the war.

When he met his guards as a free man in 1950, he hugged them and said he forgave them.

He spent the rest of his life telling us we should be doing more of that, too.