Re: Jimmy Stewart

On Jan 23, 2025 at 12:57:36 PM PST, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com>
wrote:

On 2025-01-23 3:11 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

 I just learned something I never knew:
 
 Jimmy Stewart (the actor) was a soldier in WWII and rose from the rank of
 private to colonel during the war and retired in 1968 as a 2-star general.
 He’s only one of a handful of soldiers who have accomplished that dramatic a
 rise through the ranks of the Army. And he wasn’t just doing “celebrity
duty”
 in the Army, either. During the war, he flew dozens of B-52 combat sorties
 over Nazi Germany.
 
 

I knew most of that but not that he had started as a private; for some
reason, I thought pilots started higher up the food chain. I don't think
he finally retired for the Air Force Reserve in 1968 when he reached the
mandatory retirement age of 60. He was even on a flight during the
Vietnam War as an observer.
 
You're slightly wrong about his final rank: he was a brigadier general.
Or so says Wikipedia anyway. A brigadier general is a 1-star general,
not a 2-star. But he did reach the highest rank of any actor in American
military history.

He was a brigadier when he retired but they promoted him to major general on
his retirement date so the official record shows him at the higher rank (which
also means a higher military pension). This is not uncommon for officers who
retire in good standing. My own father retired at one rank higher than he was
when he put in his papers.

Many other actors served in the world wars. Humphrey Bogart served in
WWI in the Navy and a bit of shrapnel hit him in the face during an
enemy bombardment causing his speech to change slightly to what we all
know from his films. However, Wikipedia says this account is disputed
and several other incidents are cited as possible sources of the scar on
his lip.
 
Eddie Albert (Oliver from Green Acres) served in the Navy in WWII and
earned a Bronze Star for actions in the Pacific.
 
Clark Gable served on bombers over Europe during WWII as a gunner.
Hitler valued Gable above all other actors and offered a reward to
anyone who could bring him Gable unscathed if he happened to crash or
jump from a plane during a mission. Apparently, Hitler was fascinated by
Gable's EARS and wanted to study them closely. As I understand it,
Gable's ears raised some interesting questions about Hitler's racial
theories but I don't know any further details.
 
This is only a very few of the actors who served in war. There was a lot
of social pressure on all men, including actors, to serve in WWII. A few
actors escaped military service when their studios deemed them too
valuable to risk and got exemptions for them but most served if they
were physically able.

And of course Elvis was drafted and served two years in Germany.