Originally written November 25, 2011
Zamperini and Naber met when they took part in the Olympic torch relay for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. After Zamperini’s children grew up and moved away, and then his wife, Cynthia, died in 2001, Naber sensed that his friend might need some help.
John Naber and Louis Zamperini, 40 years apart in age, are USC alumni, Olympians and as close as family.
John Naber is 55 and Louis Zamperini will be 95 in January, but they have two significant things in common: Both were Olympians and both were USC Trojans.
And that is enough.
Naber, who lives in Pasadena, was a USC swimming star who won five medals — four of them gold — at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Zamperini, who lives in the Hollywood Hills, was a track phenom at USC. And though he didn’t win an Olympic medal, folded on a table in his living room is a swastika flag he tore from a wall and took home as a souvenir from the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Most of Zamperini’s story is well-known, chronicled in the bestselling book “Unbroken,” which was published a year ago.
Written by Laura Hillenbrand, the book offers an account of Zamperini’s sports exploits as well as how he was captured and imprisoned after spending 47 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean when his fighter plane was shot down by the Japanese in World War II.
Since then, Zamperini has lived a life of both sorrow and triumph. He suffered from alcoholism when he came home from the war and fought despair when he realized he could never be a world-class track athlete again.
He found love, married, had children. He worked in the movie industry and became a Christian after meeting Billy Graham.
Zamperini and Naber met when they took part in the Olympic torch relay for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. After Zamperini’s children grew up and moved away, and then his wife, Cynthia, died in 2001, Naber sensed that his friend might need some help.
“It was the idea of one Olympian helping another,” Naber said, “one USC Trojan helping another, one Christian helping another.”
Naber drives to Zamperini’s home three or four times a week. He helps Zamperini keep track of his medications, makes sure Zamperini takes a nap and also handles all the requests for autographs and interviews that come Zamperini’s way.
Naber said it is an honor to spend so much time with a fellow Olympian.
“It sounds a little corny,” Naber said, “but there is a bond.”
Excerpted from There for his Trojan brother by Diane Pucin.