Unbroken

The corporal of the Omori POW camp was an impressively built “disciplinary officer” named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also known as “the Bird.” Watanabe had a privileged upbringing, enjoying wealth and prestigious schools. He is described as “violent” and “erratic” and he was, apparently, a sexual sadist (236). He would beat POWs daily and “when gripped in the ecstasy of an assault, he wailed and howled, drooling and frothing, [and] sometimes sobbing” (237).

The Bird had a type, and Louie fit his criteria. Watanabe liked to unleash his rage at men “who’d been highly successful in civilian life […and] resented because they wouldn’t crawl before him” (238). Because of Louie’s Olympic experience, and his tendency to defy authority, Watanabe selected him to be his special victim. Omori was not the refuge that Louie had hoped it would be.

The POWs gave Watanabe the name of “the Bird” - a harmless nickname that would keep them from getting into trouble if they were ever caught talking about him. Because the men understood that the Bird especially hated Louie, Louie’s barracks mates gave him information and tips so that he could avoid Watanabe. Though international law forbade the use of POWs for slave labor, the Bird forced them to do hard labor.