From the November 11, 2013, Mail Online "Colonel Stewart comes home: Rare photo shows actor Jimmy Stewart returning home after serving as a pilot in World War II" by Ashley Coleman.
Jimmy Stewart came from a long line of military men who participated in the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War and Wold War I. His father was a World War I veteran who owned a hardware store. He was already a successful actor, but put his movies on hold and enlisted.
Initially turned down for being underweight, he had a Hollywood trainer bulk him up and he was accepted into the Army Air Corps on March 22, 1941 and eventually rose to the rank of colonel. Part of this rapid rise was because he was already a licensed commercial pilot.
The actor was 37 on his return and he then spent time with his family and helped out his father at the family-owned hardware store. There stood an Oscar next to a model plane he had made as a child. he had won the Oscar for his role in "Philadelphia Story."
When he went back to acting, his first role was that of George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life."
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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