Unbroken: Part V

by Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand recounts the tumultuous and amazingly true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who, after surviving 40 days adrift at sea, became a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. affidavit
    written declaration made under oath
    Investigators, gathering affidavits on war criminals, sat by as men told of abuses and atrocities that pushed the bounds of believability.
  2. corroborate
    support with evidence or authority or make more certain
    As the stories were corroborated again and again, it became clear that these events had been commonplace in camps throughout Japan’s empire.
  3. indictment
    a formal document charging a person with some offense
    These would be distilled into an 84-count indictment. Even with each count stated with maximum brevity, in single spacing, the indictment stretched over eight feet of paper.
  4. regale
    occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion
    In his first weeks home, staying with his parents, he gave ninety-five speeches and made countless radio appearances. When he went to dinner clubs, the managers begged him to regale the guests.
  5. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    Every night, in his dreams, an apparition would form in his head and burn there. It was the face of the Bird, screaming, “Next! Next! Next!”
  6. excoriate
    express strong disapproval of
    Louie sat by, listening as his bride was excoriated for marrying him, trying in vain to get her to hang up.
  7. debilitating
    impairing strength and vitality
    The physical injuries were lasting, debilitating, and sometimes deadly.
  8. repercussion
    a remote or indirect consequence of some action
    The health repercussions often lasted for decades; a follow-up study found that twenty-two years after the war, former Pacific POWs had hospitalization rates between two and eight times higher than former European POWs for a host of diseases.
  9. pervasive
    spreading or spread throughout
    Their dignity had been obliterated, replaced with a pervasive sense of shame and worthlessness.
  10. acolyte
    a devoted follower or assistant
    Perhaps the explanation was that his last name was similar to those of two vicious men, Tetsutaro Kato, an Omori official said to have kicked a POW nearly to death, and Hiroaki Kono, the Bird’s acolyte at Naoetsu.
  11. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    Watanabe donned glasses to obscure his features and headed off, filled with trepidation.
  12. acuity
    a quick and penetrating intelligence
    His singular intellectual acuity, lost in the beatings from the Quack, returned to him.
  13. reparation
    something done or paid in expiation of a wrong
    The treaty waived the right of former POWs and their families to seek reparations from Japan and Japanese companies that had profited from their enslavement.
  14. ostracism
    the act of excluding someone from society by general consent
    In keeping with the goal of reconciliation, the memorial council sought the participation of relatives of the guards who’d been convicted and hanged, but the families balked, fearing ostracism.
  15. cenotaph
    monument to honor those whose remains are interred elsewhere
    In October 1995, on the site of the former Naoetsu camp, the peace park was dedicated. The focal point was a pair of statues of angels, flying above a cenotaph in which rested Hole’s plaque. In a separate cenotaph a few yards away was a plaque in memory of the eight hanged guards.
Created on Mon May 12 22:47:57 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Jul 07 14:21:09 EDT 2025)

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