48 Hours

Race to Freedom (12x52)

Air date: Sep 14, 1999

As a kid growing up in a tough California town in the 1920s and 1930s, Louis Zamperini was a troublemaker. He hopped freight trains, skipped school and fled from the police more than once. But then he discovered that he was a world-class runner. In 1936, he ran in the Berlin Olympics. Then his life took an incredible turn. In "Race To Freedom," 48 Hours Adventures tells the story of Zamperini and of his dogged will to survive all kinds of mental and physical obstacles. Bob Simon reports, from all over the world.