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Son Of ‘Unbroken’ Hero: We’re Praying For Angelina Jolie

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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“Unbroken” hero Louis Zamperini and Angelia Jolie became close friends when she produced and directed an inspirational film about the famed Olympian who survived 47 harrowing days adrift on the ocean, only to wind up in a Japanese POW camp.

Now, on the day that it was revealed she had preventive surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, I spoke to Zamperini’s son, Luke, about Jolie.

“She’s a very brave woman,” Zamperini said, before adding:

And when she underwent her radical mastectomies a couple years ago, she told us it was after reading “Unbroken” and meeting Louie Zamperini that it gave her the strength of character to go ahead and do that surgery as a way to reduce her likelihood of getting cancer. So we were praying for her then, and we’re praying for her now. And it’s fairly certain in my mind that, once again, she was drawing on the strength that she got from the story of Louie Zamperini and her personal relationship with him to go through this next phase — which she had talked about back then — that this was a possibility to do the ovarian removal. So she’s a very brave girl, and the family wishes nothing but the best for her.

Luke Zamperini is helping promote a special “Legacy of Faith” edition of the film “Unbroken,” which includes both the movie and additional material focusing on his father’s faith journey — which included forgiving his brutal captors.

You can listen to my full conversation with Luke Zamperini here (or download the podcast on iTunes):