Of all the celebrities who served their country during World War II, Jimmy Stewart was unique. At the height of his fame, Jimmy Stewart enlisted in the army several months before the Pearl Harbor attacks woke Hollywood and the rest of the nation to the reality of war. "It's a true story of personal knowledge," writes Walter Cronkite in the foreword, "and is told with skill, respect, and admiration." Author Starr Smith chronicles for the first time Stewart's long journey to becoming a bomber pilot in combat, including: - Stewart's battles with the Air Corps high command - His assignment to a Liberator squadron in England with the famed Mighty Eighth Air Force - His twenty combat missions--including one to Berlin--in command of his own squadron in the 445th Bomb Group - Later, Stewart's promotion to group operations officer for the 453rd Bomb Group "I have met a few movie stars, but of them all, I think that Jimmy Stewart was most like those modest heroes he portrayed. Now journalist Starr Smith has raised the curtain on Stewart's gallant service as a bomber pilot and air combat commander in World War II." --Walter Cronkite, from the foreword "My father's experiences during World War II affected him more deeply and permanently than anything else in his life. . . . He would feel honored by this book." --Kelly Stewart Harcourt, daughter of Jimmy Stewart "Smith's clear admiration for Stewart comes through on every page, but with an understatement that even George Bailey could have lived with." --Publishers Weekly" "How wonderful it is that Starr Smith has finally directed a literary light on the personal history of Jimmy Stewart. I welcomed Starr's book. It's needed and wanted. Bravo!" --Gay Talese, noted journalist and author of A Writer's Life" and Honor Thy Father" "This is a very well-researched and written book. Starr Smith has filled it with personal anecdotes about a World War II hero. It fills a place in history about no mere actor, but a courageous and selfless man." --General Michael E. Ryan, USAF (ret.) and former Chief of Staff of the Air Force "Jimmy Stewart was that rare public man who performed his duty without calling attention to himself. Stewart has found his biographer in Starr Smith, a man who knew Stewart, who knew the World War II Army Air Corps, and who surely knows how to write." --Wayne Flynt, professor of history, Auburn University "This is an excellent biography of a distinguished airman and fine human being, not a Hollywood star in uniform but a dedicated officer whose primary interest was the campaign of the Eighth Air Force. It is the work of a very accomplished writer, one who really knows his craft. When you turn the last page, you cannot but have a clear understanding of Jimmy Stewart's character." --Roger A. Freeman, air power historian and author, The Mighty Eighth" "Several senior-officer mentors, recognizing Stewart's competence as more than merely respectable, secured him combat assignments when Hollywood and the air force would probably rather have kept him making training films. . . . Smith dishes no dirt, possibly because, like other Stewart limners before him, he found none to dish." --American Library Association, Booklist"
