The narrative begins aboard a life-raft in shark-infested waters. At this point, Louis Zamperini and two others have survived on the life raft for twenty-seven days. A Japanese bomber flew over the men, riddling the surrounding area with a spray of bullets. To avoid being shot, the men plunged into the water and floated under the rafts, out of sight. Once they returned to the life rafts, the bomber also returned with another wave of fire. Zamperini’s two boat-mates were too exhausted to continue climbing in and out of the boat so they lay defenseless on the floor of the raft. Zamperini returned underwater, where sharks were waiting.

The chapter opens with an image of Zamperini as a child, admiring the Graf Zeppelin as it drifted above his house in Torrance, California on its American flight in 1929. During his childhood, Louie was known for his numerous thieving and conning exploits, as he was “thrilled by the crashing of boundaries, [and] was untamable” (6). Although his shenanigans earned him an unfavorable reputation within his community, his wit and resourcefulness proved to be an asset later in his life. His family was close, despite the continued frustration his parents felt at his insolence.