nara would redeem himself saving louie s life. at 33rd day of at sea he died. phillips, down to 80 pound half his body weight were rescued by the japanese only to be sent to the most hellish p.o.w. camps in the pacific. louie the olympic hero of torrence, california was officially declared dead but over the next two years he would live through unspeakably savage cruelty at the hands of his japanese captors and one sadistic commandant in particular. aka the bird. i had nightmares on this bird guy. if i looked away from his eyes he punched me out for looking away. if he stared at his ice he punched me for staring at his eyes. every day he did something to me. hit me over the head with a big, two-pound steel buckle. cracked my skull open. i m down on the ground bleeding. he hands me a piece of toilet paper to wipe the blood. then he says, ah, like i m sorry. and i thought, well he can t be so bad after all.