With today being the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War 2, I think it’s appropriate I’m reading reading the book Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe by Robert Matzen. Dan Fordice suggested the book to me and I immediately picked up a copy. I’m thankful I did.
Jimmy Stewart has always been my favorite actor (I like Tom Hanks for many of the same reasons). He played the “Everyman” in his movies and he played it well. But there was always a flash of anger in him after World War 2. Watch some of his westerns. See pain he feels when he’s at the bar in It’s a Wonderful Life and realizes he is about to lose it all. He came back from the war with an edge.
Now I understand why.
Stewart had already won a Best Actor Academy Award by the time he was drafted before the war started. He could have slid into a Hollywood film-making unit and avoided combat. But Stewart was a pilot and like his father and grandfathers before him, he chose to serve. Clark Gable told him that his career would be over. Jimmy Stewart did not care.
He was a commander of B-24 bombers at a time when bombers were being knocked out of the skies like flies. He saw Hell up close, was intimate with death and experienced carnage that most of us will never understand. But he repeatedly strapped on his parachute, climbed into his bomber and performed admirably each mission. He, like thousands of Americans like him, sacrificed and came home changed.
Jimmy Stewart did his job, didn’t brag about it and even his children never realized the extent of his service. When World War 2 started, he left Hollywood behind. We’re fortunate that he survived and returned to the big screen.
Like I said, I’ve always been a fan of Jimmy Stewart. But after reading about his time in the service, I’m an even bigger one now.
He truly did live a wonderful life. And we’re better off for it.