World War Two Famous Veterans
The Most Famous World War two Pilot-Jimmy Stewart
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Ed Torossian, which this website is dedicated to, and thousands of men like him went on to live rich productive lives after the war. Besides these men, there were and are a comparative handful who went on to become household names. A list of 27 men can be found at Famous B-24/PB4Y Crew Members. Among these is the most famous of all, legendary actor Jimmy Stewart.Mr. Stewart may be remembered best as the lead, George Bailey, in “It’s a Wonderful Life“. | |||
| I’d like to note that James Stewart was always very humble about his service during and after the war. He never allowed his war record to be used to promote his entertainment projects. | ||||
| James Stewart took an interest in flying in the 1930s and was considered a proficient pilot having earned his private and commercial pilot’s licenses by the end of the decade. He was drafted in 1940 but failed to make it past a weight requirement. After some weight training he was finally admitted in March of 1941. |
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| “Stewart enlisted as a private and then began pilot training in the USAAC. Stewart continued his military training and earned a commission as a second lieutenant in January 1942, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US directly into the conflict. He was posted to Moffett Field and then Mather Field as an instructor pilot in single- and twin-engine aircraft. | ||||
| Public appearances by Stewart were limited engagements scheduled by the Army Air Forces. “Stewart appeared several times on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he performed with Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Walter Huston, and Lionel Barrymore in an all-network radio program called We Hold These Truths, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.”[32] In early 1942, Stewart was asked to appear in a propaganda film to help recruit the anticipated 100,000 airmen that the USAAF would need to win the war. The USAAC’s First Motion Picture Unit shot scenes of Lieutenant Stewart in his pilot’s flight suit and recorded his voice for narration. The short film, Winning Your Wings(immediately below), appeared nationwide beginning in late May and was very successful, resulting in 150,000 new recruits. | ||||
| Stewart was concerned that his expertise and celebrity status would relegate him to instructor duties “behind the lines.” His fears were confirmed when he was stationed for six months at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to train bombardiers. He was transferred to Hobbs AAF to become an instructor pilot for the four-engine B-17 Flying Fortress, where he trained B-17 pilots for nine months at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. | ||||
| Still, the war was moving on. For the 36-year-old Stewart, combat duty seemed far away and unreachable and he had no clear plans for the future. But then a rumor that Stewart would be taken off flying status and assigned to making training films or selling bonds called for his immediate and decisive action, because what he dreaded most was the hope-shattering spectre of a dead end.” Stewart appealed to his commander, a pre-war aviator, who understood the situation and reassigned him to a unit going overseas. | ||||
| In August 1943, Stewart was assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group at Sioux City AAB, Iowa, first as operations officer of the 703d Bombardment Squadron and then as its commander, at the rank of captain. In December, the 445th Bombardment Group flew its B-24 Liberator bombers to RAF Tibenham, Norfolk, England and immediately began combat operations. While flying missions over Germany, Stewart was promoted to major. In March 1944, he was transferred as group operations officer to the 453rd Bombardment Group, a new B-24 unit that had been experiencing difficulties. As a means to inspire his new group, Stewart flew as command pilot in the lead B-24 on numerous missions deep into Nazi-occupied Europe. These missions went uncounted at Stewart’s orders. His “official” total is listed as 20 and is limited to those with the 445th. In 1944, he twice received the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He also received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. In July 1944, after flying 20 combat missions, Stewart was made Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force, and though he was no longer required or expected to fly missions, he continued to do so. Before the war ended, he was promoted to colonel, one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years. | ||||
| From James Stewart Wikipedia Page: | ||||
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