{"id":1781757,"date":"2022-12-20T13:33:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1781757"},"modified":"2022-12-20T13:33:50","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T18:33:50","slug":"jimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Stewart, A World At War, And Why \u2018It\u2019s A Wonderful Life\u2019 Was Almost A Little Less Wonderful: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-i%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1781757&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The beloved Christmas classic film \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d was the movie that brought a beleaguered and combat-weary actor James \u201cJimmy\u201d Stewart back to fans after the war \u2014 but it may have also been the movie that brought a desperate man back from the brink.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/people\/jimmy-stewart-photos-of-a-world-war-ii-hero-homecoming-1945\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Maitland Stewart<\/a> was preparing to go to war for several years before he was drafted in 1941. He earned a civilian pilot\u2019s license in the hopes that the Army would let him fly \u2014 and he even took a trip to Europe in 1939 to get a feel for the landscape, knowing that it was likely he would end up there at some point.<\/p>\n<p>By the time the Empire of Japan launched its surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Stewart had already attempted to join the Army. Rejected once in 1940 because he was underweight, the always-slim actor attempted to pack on a few pounds and ultimately turned to a doctor for a note explaining that he was just genetically predisposed to be thin.<\/p>\n<p>Biographer Robert Matzen \u2014 who wrote \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mission-Jimmy-Stewart-Fight-Europe\/dp\/0996274057\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jimmy+stewart+and+the+fight+for+europe&#038;qid=1621538823&#038;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe<\/a>\u201d\u00a0\u2014 explained, \u201cStep by step, he set himself up to end up in England in a bomb group. One of those steps was taken years before he was drafted, and that was when he became a star in Hollywood and bought a plane that was an army trainer and proceeded to learn to fly and train, and log hours on that plane so that he could be a pilot when the war came.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478319\" class=\"wp-image-478319 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1337627840-451x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"451\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1337627840-451x576-1.jpg 451w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1337627840-235x300-1.jpg 235w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1337627840-768x982-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1337627840.jpg 801w\" style=\"display:none\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-478319\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Portrait of American actor lieutenant colonel James Stewart (1908 \u2013 1997), 1944. (Photo by US Army\/PhotoQuest\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Stewart\u2019s determination \u2014 and his pre-war preparations \u2014 did not pay off immediately, however. The actor, who was fresh off his Best Actor win in 1940\u2019s \u201cThe Philadelphia Story,\u201d was initially drafted to appear in film reels and enlistment propaganda films \u2014 but eventually he demanded to see combat alongside his other draftees.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart eventually got what he asked for, rising through the ranks from buck private to major in just four years and earning a spot in the cockpit of a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber known as Dixie Flyer. He flew dozens of missions over Germany, some as command pilot, and earned both a Distinguished Service Medal and a Distinguished Flying Cross.<\/p>\n<p>But toward the end of the 8th Air Force\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanairmuseum.com\/archive\/mission\/8th-air-force-226-big-week-day-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Big Week<\/a> in early 1944 \u2014 a six-day mission in late February originally named Operation Argument and designed to decimate the German Luftwaffe in preparation for the D-Day invasion \u2014 things <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/movies\/jimmy-stewart-ww2-mission-air-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">went sideways<\/a>. Stewart was on his 10th mission as a leader and serving as co-pilot when his plane was hit. The German flak left a sizable hole in the fuselage of his plane \u2014 just inches from his feet. And while he and his pilot were able to recover, when the smoke cleared from the cockpit, they had to watch as another in their squadron took a similar strike, lost a wing, and plummeted toward the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart was not the same after that and was eventually grounded. At the time, his condition was referred to as \u201cflak-happy,\u201d \u201cshell-shock,\u201d or \u201ccombat fatigue\u201d \u2014 but today\u2019s doctors might have diagnosed the decorated pilot with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wasn\u2019t afraid of bombs or bullets. He was afraid of making a mistake and causing someone to die. That was his endless stress, and that\u2019s what ended up grounding him,\u201d Matzen wrote.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478808\" class=\"wp-image-478808 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-515219828-734x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"734\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-515219828-734x576-1.jpg 734w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-515219828-300x236-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-515219828-768x603-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-515219828.jpg 1024w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-478808\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Original Caption) 9\/1\/1945-New York, New York-Just like any serviceman returning from the war, Colonel James Stewart was greeted by his proud parents, who journeyed from Indiana, PA, to see their son after his arrival aboard the Queen Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>He returned home to his proud parents in Pennsylvania. On the outside, he was a war hero; on the inside, he was nearly broken.<\/p>\n<p>Surviving on little more than peanut butter and ice cream \u2014 he struggled to keep any solid foods down \u2014 Stewart\u2019s already thin frame became painfully so. Still, he decided after a short time at home that what he really needed was to get back to work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to go back and face Hollywood. I\u2019ve been away for five years, other people are taking my roles,\u201d he said \u2014 but when he got there, he quickly realized that the landscape had changed and so had he. Stewart ended up sharing an apartment with fellow actor Henry Fonda, who had also recently returned after serving in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478811\" class=\"wp-image-478811 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-103354640-417x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"417\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-103354640-417x576-1.jpg 417w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-103354640-217x300-1.jpg 217w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-103354640.jpg 742w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-478811\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lt. Henry Fonda (1905 \u2013 1982) during his military service on board the USS Bearss, summer 1945.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The beloved Christmas classic film \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d was the movie that brought a beleaguered and combat-weary actor James \u201cJimmy\u201d Stewart back to fans after the war \u2014 but it may have also been the movie that brought a desperate man back from the brink. James Maitland Stewart was preparing to go to war &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":1781760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[6202,6550,4781,3848,4453,6696,6195,10628],"class_list":["post-1781757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-daily","tag-its","tag-jimmy","tag-life","tag-stewart","tag-war","tag-wire","tag-wonderful"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}