The USC Trojan Marching Band honored Trojan legend and war hero Louis Zamperini during the halftime show of the USC-Notre Dame game on Nov. 29. (USC Photo/Brett Adair Padelford)
Trojan band honors USC legend Louis Zamperini
The track and field great was saluted at halftime of the USC-Notre Dame game at the Coliseum
https://youtu.be/FcRypdZs5GA?list=UUkMzA0Me6LYN33Gx2-kDOrw
Angelina Jolie introduced the USC Trojan Marching Band’s tribute to the late Louis Zamperini ’40 via video Saturday at halftime of the Notre Dame-USC game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Jolie is the director of Unbroken, the much-anticipated film chronicling Zamperini’s life, which opens on Christmas.
This unique halftime presentation illustrated Zamperini’s life with music, illustrative formations on the field and clips from the movie on the Coliseum’s video board. At the conclusion of the presentation, members of Zamperini’s family and the star of the film, Jack O’Connell, were honored on the field.
“I’m thrilled to salute a great Trojan and a great person,” said Arthur Bartner, now in his 45th football season as leader of the band. “I first met him when he was brought in to talk to the leadership of the band, and he attended many of our events over the years. I’m thrilled that in cooperation with NBC Universal, we can honor one of the greatest Trojans of all time.”
The band’s halftime tribute was part of a larger USC effort to salute the Trojan legend, including the formation of a scholarship in his name awarded annually to a USC track and field athlete and the football team wearing “Z” decals on their helmets during the entirety of the 2014 season.
Saturday’s game marked another milestone for the Trojan Marching Band, named the best band in college football by USA Today. The band also performed alongside multiplatinum recording artist Jason Derulo at a halftime show earlier this year and traveled to every game for the 28th straight season.
