Jimmy Stewart's WWII Service
Ned Forney, Writer, Saluting America's Veterans
December 22, 2018
For all the fans of ?It?s A Wonderful Life? and Jimmy Stewart . . .
Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in ?The Philadelphia Story,? Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.
An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.
Stewart, however, wasn?t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.
Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.
In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being ?flak happy,? today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).
He was depressed, couldn?t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.
As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.?
In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in ?It?s a Wonderful Life.? The rest is history.
Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn?t acting. His PTSD was being captured on filmed for potentially millions to see.
But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.
When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.?
This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, ?It?s A Wonderful Life,? it?s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!
Postscript:
While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father?s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.
Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
December 22, 2018
For all the fans of ?It?s A Wonderful Life? and Jimmy Stewart . . .
Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in ?The Philadelphia Story,? Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.
An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.
Stewart, however, wasn?t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.
Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.
In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being ?flak happy,? today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).
He was depressed, couldn?t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.
As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.?
In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in ?It?s a Wonderful Life.? The rest is history.
Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn?t acting. His PTSD was being captured on filmed for potentially millions to see.
But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.
When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.?
This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, ?It?s A Wonderful Life,? it?s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!
Postscript:
While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father?s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.
Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
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He gave a rare interview about His wartime service for the World At War series that was made in the late 1970s. A hero in the true sense of the word and a outstanding actor. 0 -
Thanks for posting that. They don?t make many like that anymore. 0 -
A great man. They don't make 'em like that any more. 0 -
His time at SAC and bomber command (the nuke carrying big boys) is often overlooked...
I like to watch the YouTube clips and training films he did for the Service during the cold war.
His contribution to these programs is pretty amazing - his post war service should not go unreported...
Mike0 -
If I remember right I thought he retired as a general..... 0 -
1981 johnny carson show ... STEWART recited his poem "A dog named Beau".....knocked me over...i'll never forget...did not realize i was really such a pet guy till that moment...THANK YOU SIR 0 -
I was in the 43rd at Carswell working Avionics on B-58?s when BG Stewart made his Mach 2 Patch. Never saw him but heard a lot about his flight and what a great guy he was and how nice he treated everyone. I remember A/C coming back from missions with all the painted markings almost gone and the neoprene on the ray dome blistered and missing. Loved he aircraft and most of the people who worked with it?. 0 -
Indiana, Pa 0 -
My Dad was a nose gunner in the B-24s. He got shot down 3 times, the third B-24 was the one they flew their 25th mission in. They only had to fly 25 missions. Dad's crew held a meeting and they decided to continue flying missions. I think it was mission number 33 that they, for the third time had to "Hit the silk!" Somehow they all made it back to their base although they straggled in over several days. Dad's crew again held a meeting to decide if they would keep flying missions. I guess this time it was a resounding "HELL NO!!" 
Dad's piolet was REALLY good. Dad said there were several different times he would not have made it home had he had another piolet. The reason my name is Todd is that Dad named me after him. As he said he was the reason he was able to get home and marry Mom!
Jimmy Stewart walked on water as far as Dad was concerned. Anytime in the 50s a Jimmy Stewart movie played in Bryan, Dad would take me to it. I remember I was little enough the first couple of times Dad took me I would go to sleep in the theater. Dad LOVED Jimmy Stewart!!!0 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV1hVLGLZ-w
A clip from 'Strategic Air Command'.
I have always thought the B-47 to be one of the most significant bombers ever built. Over 2,000 were delivered, and with the podded engines, set the stage not only for the B-52, but for the bulk of civilian jet transport even to this day.0 -
To this day everytime someone mentions WWII bomber missions over Europe I picture the bomber sequence from the animated movie heavy metal - I hear that music and the engine noise in my head and my hand starts duplicating the aircraft's flight path...
I was enraptured when I saw that in 1982 at the tender age of 11-12 years old...
I know it's not Jimmie Stewart specific and there are no zombies in his service records - but it's worth watching or rewatching - it's a stunning animated sequence set to the perfect soundtrack...
I remember as a child growing up in the late 70's always watching Carson and especially remember each time Stewart was on with him...
I remember when I was a weblos and boy scout helping do the scut worm for the guys restoring Shoo Shoo Baby to flying condition - I spent many hours inside her fuselage sanding down paint and rust - I have a piece of her tucked away - her mission record was impressive and I always wonder what happened to her these days...
Mike0 -
allen griggs wrote:A great man. They don't make 'em like that any more.
He was a great man. Not to belittle him but there are still heroes like him.
Pat Tillman left the NFL to go fight in Afghanistan.0 -
Jimmy Stewart is, and always has been my favorite actor. I enjoyed watching him all my life even before I knew anything about his military background. I sure did gain a lot of respect for the man afterword's though!
It is because of Jimmy and a very short list of actors in general that I still retain an interest in movies at all these days.0 -
RIP Sir. A true American Hero in more ways than one. 0 -
Excellent post Nunn. 0 -
Great guy and a patriot.
He had an adopted son who was killed in Vietnam, he was a Marine 1lt and he was on a recon mission.
Along with Charlton Heston he strongly supported the 1968 Gun Control act.0 -
My late father-in-law was a waist gunner on a B-24 and was shot down twice. Jimmy Stewart was his C.O. My FIL said he was a great guy and very inspirational to everyone under his command.
As a side note, my FIL would never fly again. He said after two crashes, he was afraid of "3 strikes and you're out!"0 -
The Great Generation.I am afraid that we won't have another one like that. Hitler had to be stopped and Jimmy did his part. That g-d Hitler invaded Russia for without them,we would have never defeated Germany unless we had the atom bomb ready sooner than later.
serf0 -
It's entirely true that Hollywood doesn't make 'em like that any more. Hollywood makes Jane Fondas (just typing her name rises bile in my throat.)
The real America still makes 'em.
I had the privilege of corresponding with Jimmy Stewart, inviting (begging) him to speak at our ROTC graduation in 1969. He was not able to, and I somehow lost the kind letter he sent back with regrets.0
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