No this is not a movie still of Jimmy Stewart in the movie Strategic Air Command. In fact one James Stewart had a distinguished career in the Army Air Corp. As an actor he was nominated 100 times and awarded 50 times for his movie acting career including 1 Oscar for his role in The Philadelphia Story, Of course Stewart was honored with a start on the walk of fame.
But Stewart mainly wanted to be an officer in the Army Air Corp. And he did.
Although best known to the general public as Hollywood actor, Stewart had also enjoyed a remarkable and distinguished military career. He had seen the war clouds gathering and volunteered for service in 1940, joining the USAAC in March 1941 – a full nine months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into the war. At the age of 33, Stewart was too old to be an aviation cadet, but used his own aircraft (a Stinson 105) to build hours until he qualified to enter as an experienced pilot. The gangling Stewart was also underweight, according to the Army Air Corps doctors, and he binged until he had put on the ten pounds necessary to meet the Army’s minimum weight requirement.
The National museum of the United States Air Force has this to say about Jimmy Stewarts career.
On March 22, 1941, Jimmy Stewart was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps as an enlisted man and stationed at Moffett Field, Calif. During his nine months of training at that base, he also took extension courses with the idea of obtaining a commission. He completed the courses and was awaiting the results when Pearl Harbor took place. A month later he received his commission, and because he had logged over 400 hours as a civilian, he was permitted to take basic flight training at Moffett and received his pilot wings. During the next nine months, he instructed in AT-6, AT-9 and B-17 aircraft and flew bombardiers in the training school at Albuquerque, N.M. In the fall of 1943, Stewart went to England as Commanding Officer of the 703d Bomb Squadron, equipped with B-24s.
He began flying combat missions and on March 31, 1944, was appointed Operations Officer of the 453rd Bomb Group and, subsequently, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat wing, 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Stewart ended the war with 20 combat missions. He remained in the USAF Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1959. He retired on May 31, 1968.
Stewart shunned all the Elvis hype that surrounds Hollywood Stars. He served honorably and distinguished himself amongst his peers. His military (and one civilian) award are displayed below.
His final mission was in Viet Nam
BGen James M. Stewart flies his last mission
20 February 1966: Brigadier General James M. Stewart, United States Air Force Reserve, flew the last combat mission of his military career, a 12 hour, 50-minute “Arc Light” bombing mission over Vietnam, aboard Boeing B-52 Stratofortress of the 736th Bombardment Squadron, 454th Bombardment Wing. His bomber was a B-52F-65-BW, serial number 57-149, call sign GREEN TWO. It was the number two aircraft in a 30-airplane bomber stream.
Stewart retired May 31, 1968.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.