Eye Opening?

Is it just me or do any of you find this story eye opening? I feel like we don't totally understand how fortunate we actually are. We are so wrapped up in our problems that we sometimes forget that bigger picture. Louie's story is one of those "never forget" ones, for me anyways. I love the book because it also shows anything is possible. I think the aspect of mental toughness is something we should take away from this book as it will get you a little farther in life. No matter what gets in your path, you have that mentality like "I'm coming out on top." Well, it is definitely something I will try doing more of. I was just wondering if any of you felt something similar to this?

Caring

I found it really amazing how on pages 103 and 104 Louie continuously kept checking in on his wounded crewmates and still managed to help Phil and get his job done. it shows how close the crew can get in just a short amount of time together. Also it displayed how no matter who it was that was wounded he was willing to help them all. There wasn't one guy on the plane that he favored more than the other he gave each one of them the same attention knowing that that could be him at any moment. This is an example of what the war and military is all about. sacrifice and teamwork. knowing that you could be in the same position as any of the men surrounding you is a major side affect to the war but it something that each of them have to realize and work through together.

Check this out

http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/interactive-map/

you guys should check this link out its pretty cool! you can go through Louie's journey on a map and there other things too its the author Laura Hillenbrand's website.

Funafuti

 

This is the picture from the book on page 113 of Funafuti the morning after it was destroyed. During the destruction of Funafuti men were petrified. an airman wrote to his parents. "I thought I was scared in the air, but I wasn't. [It was] the first time in my life I saw how close death could come"(112). Men were experiencing a real war, and real acts of terror for the first time in their lives. The had never seen such destruction or violence before. What they once thought was scary was nothing compared to what they were now experiencing. This line particularly stood out to me because it really showed what these men were facing and how petrifying and life changing it was to be in the military. Men were dying instantly, some from heart attacks and severed limbs. Many men could not even handle the terror so they just broke down crying and prayed for their lives which in no way benefited them but benefited the others because it made those who stopped and just lay on the ground to cry, more vulnerable than the ones fighting for their lives. I found this sentence from the book to be very powerful. What do you think?

Weight Loss

It is amazing that both Louie and Phil were able to survive despite the large amount of weight they lost. Both men had lost over half of their weight. After being rescued from the raft by the Japanese, Phil weighed 80 pounds and Louie weighed either 67, 79.5, or 87 pounds (Hillenbrand 181). Louie and Phil manage to stay alive despite the small amount of food and water they are given while being held hostage. They continued to lose even more weight and resembled "a dead body breathing" according to Louie. On a website, I found that the actors chosen to play the parts of Louie and Phil had to lose weight, so they properly resembled them.The actors said they often felt extremely tired. One actor lost 30 pounds to play his role.  http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/10/unbroken-cast-angelina-jolie Do you think Louie and Phil will recover from such an extreme weight loss?

Phil

Throughout the book there is always talk about how all their lives are in danger and one wrong move and that could be it. so on page 94 when it  talks about how Phil, as a pilot, has the life of all his crew in his hands it made me think about how I would feel if I had 8 lives in my hands. I cant imagine even having one life depending on my actions let alone 8. its crazy to think that some of these men, even now a days, stand and fall together. It also made me think about how well he handles his job for someone who has to deal with maintaining the lives of 8 other men along with his and still get his job done.

Sharks

Sharks are a reoccurring topic as Lauren stated in a previous post and I found it interesting how on page 90 it says that the men were very afraid of sharks. I realize that they are constantly flying their planes over shark infested waters and its dangerous and quite scary but out of all the things to be afraid of in war I found sharks an odd thing for them to be scared of. Did anyone else think the same thing or is it just me?