Bill Text: CA ACR157 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Louis Zamperini Memorial Highway.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-08-16 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 122, Statutes of 2016. [ACR157 Detail]
Download: California-2015-ACR157-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: ACR 157 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 122
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 16, 2016
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 11, 2016
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 16, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hadley
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez and Gipson)
(Coauthor: Senator Allen)
MARCH 29, 2016
Relative to the Louis Zamperini Memorial Highway.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 157, Hadley. Louis Zamperini Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 405
in the County of Los Angeles as the Louis Zamperini Memorial
Highway. The measure would also request the Department of
Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing
this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering the cost, to erect those signs.
WHEREAS, Louis Silvie Zamperini was born on January 26, 1917, in
Olean, New York, to Italian immigrants Anthony Zamperini and Louise
Dossi. Zamperini's family moved to Torrance, California, in 1919,
where Louis began his extraordinary life; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini learned to box before he became a runner.
His father taught him how to box so he could defend himself against
bullies who taunted him because he could not speak English. Pete
Zamperini, his older brother, encouraged him to try out for the track
team at Torrance High School; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini set the national high school record in
the mile at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1934, earning him
the nickname of the "Torrance Tornado." His record time of 4 minutes,
21.2 seconds stood for 20 years. His schoolboy exploits on the track
team earned him a scholarship to the University of Southern
California; and
WHEREAS, Two years later, in the 5,000-meter Olympic trials at
Randalls Island in New York, Louis Zamperini finished in a dead heat
with Don Lash, the world-record holder, which qualified him for the
1936 Olympics in Berlin as a teenager, alongside such Olympians as
Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, and Mack Robinson, the older brother of
Jackie Robinson; and
WHEREAS, Two years later, in 1938, Louis Zamperini set a national
collegiate mile record of 4:08.3, which stood for 15 years. He
subsequently graduated from the University of Southern California,
and not long after that, when World War II broke out, he enlisted in
September 1941 in the United States Army Air Corps and became a
bombardier on a Consolidated B-24 bomber in the Pacific theater of
operations; and
WHEREAS, During a search and rescue mission to save a downed
pilot, Louis Zamperini's airplane crashed due to mechanical failure,
and he and two other airmen were the only survivors of the 11-man
crew on board the airplane. One of the men died after 33 days, and
Louis Zamperini and the other airman were stranded on a raft for a
total of 47 days before washing ashore on a Pacific island and being
taken as prisoners of war (POWs) by the Japanese; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini was tortured for the next two years and
was only released and returned to the United States after the end of
the war in the Pacific in 1945. After the war, he founded a camp for
troubled youths called the Victory Boys Camp; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini married Cynthia Applewhite in 1946, to
whom he remained married until her death in 2001. They had a
daughter, Cynthia, and a son, Luke. His marriage became strained
because of his nightmares reliving his World War II experiences, and
he began drinking heavily, trying to forget his experiences as a POW;
and
WHEREAS, In 1949, at the encouragement of his wife, Louis
Zamperini reluctantly agreed to attend a Billy Graham crusade. Graham'
s preaching reminded him of his prayers during his time on the life
raft and his imprisonment, and Zamperini recommitted his life to
Christ. Following this, he forgave his Japanese tormentors, and his
nightmares ceased; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini was a defiant, resourceful, and
determined man. He became an Olympic athlete and survived a plane
crash, being lost at sea, and the worst of a Japanese prisoner-of-war
camp during World War II. In 1998, he carried the Olympic torch at
the Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan. He also spent the last 65
years of his life sharing his faith and his philosophy of life with
as many audiences as would invite him to speak. In his talks, he
included the concepts of forgiveness, hardiness, preparation, and a
new life in Christ; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini was also quick-witted, fun-loving,
humble, and extremely caring of other people; and
WHEREAS, On July 2, 2014, Louis Silvie Zamperini passed away at
his home in Los Angeles, California, at 97 years of age. His dramatic
life story (Olympian and World War II POW) has been told in various
books, including the 2010 biography "Unbroken: A World War II Story
of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption," by Laura Hillenbrand and
the December 2014 film "Unbroken," directed by Angelina Jolie; and
WHEREAS, Louis Zamperini is survived by his son, Luke Zamperini,
his daughter, Cynthia Garris, and one grandchild, Clay Zamperini;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates that
portion of Interstate 405 from Redondo Beach Boulevard to South
Western Avenue in the County of Los Angeles as the Louis Zamperini
Memorial Highway; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.
