The Reel Thing! — Think you know James Stewart? Maybe not…
Who among us hasn’t winced or gasped in a particularly emotional scene of a war movie? I surely have. Undoubtedly, you have a favorite war movie. Actually, I have several. Thankfully, film is about as close a most of us will ever come to top-secret war planning, a frenzied fight for survival, or the grisly reality of a battlefield.
The saving grace of such films is that they constantly remind the general population that America’s freedom and way of life came at great cost — both in terms of money and lives.
If you are a movie buff, then the mention of Jimmy Stewart brings forth all manner of mental images… Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase’s film version of the classic play about the huge white rabbit “Harvey”… George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”… Jefferson Smith in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”… Virginia farmer Charlie Anderson in “Shenandoah”… photographer L. B. Jeffries in the Alfred Hitchcock Classic “Rear Window….
A five-time Oscar nominee, he amassed a venerable reputation over his career. Jimmy Stewart has always been a favorite of mine and I recently read a mesmerizing book on him by World War II war correspondent Starr Smith.
While many of us are familiar with his acting career, few of us are aware of his role as a World War II bomber pilot. Reporting to Draft Board # 245 in Los Angeles in February of 1941, he was — at 138 — underweight by five pounds. While many men sought to avoid the draft, Jimmy Stewart relished the opportunity. In fact, he was the first Hollywood star to enter military service prior to, or during, World War II. An avid pilot who held a commercial license, he volunteered to serve his country in the US Army Air Corps (now the US Air Force). Of particular interest to Hoosiers is the fact that his first flight experience was in Indiana — riding with a traveling barnstorming pilot.
After serving as a pilot in bombardier Training at Kirtland for six months, he transferred to Hobbs for four-engine training. An instructor on the B-17, he went to Gowen Field for nine months and then made Squadron Commander of the 703rd Squadron of the 445th Bomb Group at Sioux City, Iowa.
Heed his own words about the planes he flew stateside in the early 1940s:
“I put the B-24 to a severe test one night in Iowa: ‘I was making a landing in a thunderstorm and, between lots of lightning and some bad judgment on my part, I flew the poor bird into the ground at 120 miles an hour. The nose wheel gave way and was never found again, but, other than that, she just bounced and settled down with a groan. I remember the B-24 very well and, although it came out of the war with a rather questionable reputation for some reason I think most of those who flew the airplane have a very soft spot in their hearts for the machine. I learned four-engine operation in the B-17. But while I was instructing in that airplane the change was suddenly made to the B-24; the transition didn’t seem at all difficult, which speaks well for the bird. In combat, the airplane was no match for the B-17 as a formation bomber above 25,000 feet, but, from 12,000 to, 18,000 feet the airplane did a fine job.”
By 1942 and the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, he was a four-engine flight instructor at Mather Field, California, and oversaw pilots on both the B-17 and the B-24 heavy bombers. After constant requests for overseas duty, Captain James Maitland Stewart finally arrived as Operations Officer for the 703rd bombe Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force in Tibenham, England.
Starr Smith tells how the men in his unit were apprehensive about having a major film star for their superior, but those fears were put to rest in short order. Efficient, fair, and a talented leader, Stewart fit in with his men and earned their loyalty and respect. By 1944, he transferred to the 453rd at Buckenham and flew — as he had throughout his overseas career — as the lead pilot in B-24 Liberators.
Many web sources cite that his record included 20 combat missions as command pilot over enemy territory, including bombing raids to Berlin, Brunswick, Bremen, Frankfurt and Schweinfurt. He led the 2nd Combat Wing — the 389th, 445th and 453rd groups — to Berlin on March 22, 1944. Historians deem the most memorable mission of his career as flight leader of a 1000-plane raid to Berlin for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Early in 1944, he transferred to the 453rd Bomb Group, one of the 445th’s two sister groups, as group operations officer. Stewart held the rank of Colonel at war’s end and returned to the states in 1945. His first post-war movie was Frank Capra’s 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” — a classic work with a timeless message.
Jimmy Stewart remained with the Air Force Reserve and made Brigadier General in 1959. In 1966, during his annual two weeks of active duty, he participated in a bombing strike in Vietnam as an observer on a B-52 bomber. Sadly, Stewart’s stepson, 1st Lt. Ronald McLean was killed at age 24 in the Vietnam War. Clearly, sources were nearly verbatim in text when it came to biographical information on James Maitland Stewart. In poring over seven sources for this information, I found that one in particular was most helpful. Titled, Something about Everything Military, the website should be of interest to anyone wishing to research war topics for the United States. Consult www.jcs-group.com.
Stewart retired from the Air Force in 1968 and received the Distinguished Service Medal and — ultimately — the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Like other World War II veterans, Jimmy Stewart seldom spoke of the war years. I was especially struck by the words of one of his daughters, Kelly Stewart.
“Starr Smith’s book has opened a door for me into this part of my father’s life. Mr. Smith conveys with great skill what it meant to fly in the Eighth Air Force during the war; to be Operations Officer of a Bomb Group; what was involved, for example, in the planning and execution of missions. Above all, Mr. Smith, who worked with my father during that time, shows us what he was like as an individual in his role of pilot and leader. I know the war held terrible memories for my father, as it must for anyone who lived through that combat. But he was also deeply proud to have served his country. He would feel honored by this book.
I recommend the book highly. Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith (Foreword by Walter Cronkite) is well worth your time. James Maitland Stewart is a vivid reminder of what it means to love one’s country and put one’s life on the line to defend her.