Posted on 05/23/2021 12:20:05 PM PDT by mylife
The impact is deafening. More than 18,000 feet above the German city of Fürth, the World War II B-24 bomber they call Dixie Flyer has just delivered its full payload onto a German manufacturer,
That’s because a German shell (or flak) has pierced directly through the center of his B-24 Liberator. The whiplash is so intense that only harnesses keep him in his seat. Still, Stewart rises in the air; pilot Capt. Neil Johnson’s hands are briefly shaken from the controls; and for a moment, the entire plane is consumed with smoke as it violently ascends. When Stewart finally gets his bearings, he’s able to look down and see the hole in the aircraft—the edge of it is inches from his boot. Almost two feet in width, the gap offers a clear view through the plane’s fuselage and straight on to the German landscape below.
(Excerpt) Read more at denofgeek.com ...
sorry for the crappo excerpt
The author does not mention that Stewart and his wife Gloria went on to lose their adopted son, an Army first lieutenant, in Vietnam. I remember Gloria telling an interviewer how badly she felt that the church organist failed to show up on the day of his funeral.
Yup. He wasn’t the only one that joined. Today’s pampered hollywierdos, few and far between, wouldn’t even consider putting their important selves in harms way.
What a remarkable guy he was and what a remarkable life he led. He was a graduate of my old Alma Mater (Princeton University) and then volunteered for duty as World War 2 unfurled. And then you see stories like this.
By all accounts Stewart was just really a good man. Can’t see how he survived in hollyweird.
Wenchester ‘73 was one of my favorites of his.
I think one of the most fascinating stories of friendship is between Stewart and Hank Fonda. Politically polar opposites as were their children.
When Jim was asked how they could be friends, being so politically different, he replied, in his “Jimmy” way - “Well, there’s somethings we just don’t talk about.”
I read an article many years ago about the making of Liberty Valance, and the author noted how many times John Ford (filmed the attack on Midway), Lee Marvin (wounded in Saipan) and Jimmy Stewart, were talking about the war after shooting.
One in a million both him and the Winchester.
Peruse later.
B-24 Liberator bomber pilots hold a special place in the ranks, if for no other reason than they had a real bear of a machine to fly. The control surfaces were all manually operated with no power assist of any kind, and it took extraordinary exertion of upper body strength to keep them even on level flight, let alone any emergency situations like this.
We got to meet him once at a book signing. he wrote a book of poems. Such a nice gentleman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was Hollywood when it made good movies, wasn’t dominated by weirdos, and when the bulk of the people involved in the film industry appreciated this country and were loyal Americans. How times have changed!
There were plenty of weirdos then. The studios made the effort to covered it up. Read Chaplin’s biography! The Chaplin movie (starring Downey) just scratches the surface.
I fondly remember Jimmy Stewart doing a campaign event for William Scranton running for governor of PA in 1962, I believe. He starts off, looking around at the 15-20 thousand in attendance, “You know, they told me they could fit all of the Republicans in Pennsylvania into a single telephone booth...(looks around the stadium)... Some telephone booth!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwGnCIdHQH0
Above is Jimmy Stewart on the Johnny Carson show reading a poem about his dog Beau.
My Dad was a B24 tailgunner. Those guys must have endured hell.
Thanks SO MUCH for posting this. Jimmy Stewart has always been a favorite actor of mine and I knew he had risen to Brigadier General in the reserves after the war, but I had no idea of his wartime experiences. This is incredible.
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