Editor's note: Chuck Norris' weekly political column debuts each Monday in WND and is then syndicated by Creators News Service for publication elsewhere. His column in WND often runs hundreds of words longer than the subsequent release to other media.
Last week, I began to explain the spiritual power behind World War II prisoner of war hero, Louis Zamperini, whose amazing life was retold in the movie, "Unbroken." This week, I want to discuss what his adult children are saying about his faith in the movie and give further evidence for just how deep and wide it permeated his life.
Movie viewers and pundits are debating Zamperini's spirituality and whether or not the movie depicted it accurately. Fox News asked, "Where's the rest of Louis Zamperini's story?" CBN reported that the movie "does not portray his salvation experience during a 1949 Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles." Zamperini's own adult children have even entered the ring of debate.
Zamperini's daughter, Cynthia Garris, explained that her father was fine with the compromised message in the film, saying, "He had a very specific philosophy about this film. If Jesus Christ came up in the film, if that was the message specifically, that it would be a film made for Christians and other people may not want to see it if they're not ready to have that message."
She continued, "So his philosophy was he wanted as many people to come and see the movie as possible. If they wanted to know more about how he got through it, how he survived it they can investigate into his faith further. He never wanted to preach at them, he wanted to live the example."
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Unfortunately, Louis passed before the final editing of the film. USA Today reported that Louis only watched "a lot of scenes" of "Unbroken."And according to a recent interview with Zamperini's son Luke by John W. Kennedy, founder of The Creative Universe Entertainment, Louis "didn't see the entire film in its final cut."
Luke explained in his own article just how pivotal his father's faith was: "Billy meant a whole lot to my Dad because it was when he met Billy Graham and heard him speak that his life had really changed for the better. Billy introduced my father to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that is what turned my father's life around finally and completely to a life of service and turned him into the happy, joyful person he was after going through the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that he went through during and after WWII."
Luke added, "It was only when, at the urging of my mother, he attended a Billy Graham crusade in 1949 and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ that my father truly became unbroken. The nightmares stopped. So did the drinking. And he dedicated the rest of his life to serving others – especially wayward kids, through the establishment of his nonprofit organization, Victory Boys Camp Inc. (ictoryboyscamp.org)."
The fact that both of Zamperini's children recently entered the debate about the film's spiritual accuracy shows me that something was amiss. So I sought "the rest of the story" for myself, and I was surprised to discover just how bold and faith-filled Louis really was.
Zamperini shared his inspiring Christian testimony at several of Billy Graham's Crusades, including one in San Francisco (1958) and Los Angeles (1963). In June 2011, he visited Billy Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina.
Here's another example of how Louis expressed his faith over the past decades: "I believe with all my heart that 'all things work together for the good – for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.' Jesus said in the Scriptures, 'I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life'; 'He who comes to me I will nowise cast out' … Christ is the way to God … people are always seeking truth, but the truth is Christ … our eternal life starts now by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the strength we live by, and death no longer has its sting, not to the Christian."
Even death lost its war against Louis, when he put in for his change of address to heaven on July 2, 2014. Far from those Japanese war camps, he's now enjoying a heavenly mansion, where there's no longer any pain, grief, sorrow or tears.
As Billy Graham eloquently explained in his latest book, "Nearing Home," "We were not meant for this world alone. We were meant for Heaven, our final home. Heaven is our destiny, and Heaven is our joyous hope."
The triumph of Louis' Christian redemption remains the epic moment in his earthly life. That fact is what prompted Kennth Turan, a teacher at the University of Southern California who reviews movies for the Los Angeles Times, to offer this recent NPR critique: "In real life, Zamperini's postwar story has a tremendous ending. He endures years of alcoholism and PTSD before a religious awakening, inspired by Billy Graham, changes his life. Yet, the film relegates this drama to a few brief seconds of text on screen. This decision wreaks havoc with the stories equilibrium making 'Unbroken' into a drama about torture, not redemption. The result is a film we respect more than love, and that's a wasted opportunity."
I saw "Unbroken" after writing my first column, and the movie ends upon his return home from captivity in Japan. The film is not about his PTSD or years of alcoholism or his conversion to Christianity. That is another story.
To ensure that movie goers understand the full impact of Louis's faith, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association released its own version of his life on Dec. 25, "Louis Zamperini: Captured by Grace." Click here to watch a preview or order the DVD.
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