Second part of Famous People in WW2: “James Stewart”

The famous actor James Stewart did actually serve from 1941 to 1968, when he was promoted to Brigadier General, serving in both World War Two and Vietnam War in the USAF. Nearly two years before the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Stewart had accumulated over 400 hours of flying time, but had been drafted and rejected due to his skinny complexion. After some training in 1943, Stewart was assigned to the 445th Bomb Group as operations officer of the 703d Bombardment Squadron, but after three weeks became its commander. Stewart led several air raids through Germany and, despite the USAF’s desire to keep him out of the battlefield, he kept fighting on the skies.