Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot

by Starr Smith, Walter Cronkite (Foreword by)

Overview

Of all the celebrities who served their country during World War II -and they were legion -Jimmy Stewart was unique. On December 7th, when the attack on Pearl Harbor woke so many others to the reality of war, Stewart was already in uniform - as a private on guard duty south of San Francisco at the Army Air Corps Moffet Field. Seeing war on the horizon, Jimmy Stewart, at the height of his fame after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and his Oscar-winning turn in The Phadelphia Story in 1940, had enlisted several months earlier.

Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot chronicles his long journey to become a bomber pilot in combat. Author Starr Smith, the intelligence officer assigned to the movie star, recounts how Stewart's first battles were with the Air Corps high command, who insisted on keeping the naturally talented pilot out of harm's way as an instructor pilot for B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators. By 1944, however, Stewart managed to get assigned to a Liberator squadron that was deploying to England to join the mighty Eighth Air Force. Once in the thick of it, he rose to command his own squadron and flew twenty combat missions, including one to Berlin.
“My father would feel honored by this book.” —Kelly Stewart Harcourt, daughter of Jimmy Stewart
"We would have made Jimmy a group commander [equivalent to an army regiment] if the war had lasted another month." - General Jimmy Doolittle.

"An excellent biography of a distinguished airman and fine human being." - Roger Freeman, author of The Mighty Eighth: A History of the U.S. 8th Air Force.

"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 is needed and wanted. Bravo!" - Gay Talese.

"This is a very well researched and written book. . . . It fills a place in history about no mere actor but a courageous and selfless man, Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart, USAF." - General Michael E. Ryan, former Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

“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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616737610
Publisher:	Zenith Press
Publication date:	11/15/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	370,640
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Starr Smith is an international journalist and author who has chronicled his adventures to more than one hundred countries. Smith was a combat intelligence officer with the Eighth Air Force in England during World War II, and later served on General Eisenhower’s press staff at his London and Paris headquarters.

After the war, Smith worked with the military’s top brass, including Anderson, Arnold, Doolittle, Eaker, Kenney, Spaatz, and other great World War II leaders and generals. He has been a correspondent for NBC Radio, a reporter for Newsweek, and his byline has appeared in newspapers and magazines from six continents.

Smith’s books include Only the Days are Long and Starr Smith’s Southern Scenes. He lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

Starr Smith is an international journalist and author who has chronicled his adventures to more than one hundred countries. Smith was a combat intelligence officer with the Eighth Air Force in England during World War II, and later served on General Eisenhower's press staff at his London and Paris headquarters.After the war, Smith worked with the military's top brass, including Anderson, Arnold, Doolittle, Eaker, Kenney, Spaatz, and other great World War II leaders and generals. He has been a correspondent for NBC Radio, a reporter for Newsweek, and his byline has appeared in newspapers and magazines from six continents.Smith's other books include Only the Days are Long and Starr Smith's Southern Scenes. He lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

Starr Smith is an international journalist and author who has chronicled his adventures to more than one hundred countries. Smith was a combat intelligence officer with the Eighth Air Force in England during World War II, and later served on General Eisenhower’s press staff at his London and Paris headquarters.After the war, Smith worked with the military’s top brass, including Anderson, Arnold, Doolittle, Eaker, Kenney, Spaatz, and other great World War II leaders and generals. He has been a correspondent for NBC Radio, a reporter for Newsweek, and his byline has appeared in newspapers and magazines from six continents.Smith’s books include Only the Days are Long and Starr Smith’s Southern Scenes. He lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

What People are Saying About This

Gay Talese

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!
—noted author & journalist

Walter Cronkite

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.
—from the Foreword

From the Publisher

Montgomery Advertiser“The book is an easy and compelling read … Smith has told an important story and told it extremely well. He has done an exemplary job of telling the other side of Stewart’s remarkable life and his devotion to ‘duty, honor and country.’ Far more than a tribute to Stewart, Smith has given us a window on what patriotism is all about. It is a timely chronicle.” St. Croix Review, October/Nov. 2006“…this is an important book that should be on the reading list of all officers, senior non-commissioned officers, and cadets or midshipmen in all of the armed services.”

Cincinnati Post, May 29, 2006“The reader looking for stories about Jimmy Stewart's remarkable movie career will not find them here. Likewise, the reader looking for some salacious expose of Mr. Stewart's private life will search for it in vain in Mr. Smith's book. What you will find is a first-rate and first-hand account of a chapter in Jimmy Stewart's life about which little has been written. This was a Jimmy Stewart very few people knew, and yet it was a time that, by his own admission, had more impact on his life than any other.” Evergreen Quarterly, April 2006 “…an engrossing tribute that is as well-written as it is well-deserved.”

Military Trader, August 2006 “Starr Smith has written a colorful and detailed account of Jimmy Stewart’s air force service that illuminates a sometimes overlooked facet of one of America’s most beloved actors.” Cybermodeler Online, July 2006“Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot is a well-written book that will provide a unique look into some operation history and the characteristics of a quiet man that is an icon of a true American hero. This title is highly recommended!”

Roger A. Freeman

. . (This book) 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.
—air power historian and author, The Mighty Eighth

Kelly Stewart Harcourt

My father would feel honored by this book.
—daughter of Jimmy Stewart

Jimmy Doolittle

We would have made Jimmy a group commander if the war had lasted another month.
—General, World War II commander of the Eighth Air Force in England

Wayne Flynt

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.
—Professor of History, Auburn University

Michael E. Ryan

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.
—Retired General and former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force

Editorial Reviews

It goes without saying that James Maitland Stewart was one of Hollywood’s greatest and most enduring stars. Be he was also an American patriot of the first order … Veteran journalist Starr Smith has captured the true essence of the man in this superbly written and profusely illustrated biography … With so many of the current generation of Hollywood stars decidedly antiwar and antimilitary, this book is a refreshing, nostalgic look back at a time when personal fame, money and safety took a back-seat to the ideals of duty, honor and country. Not to be missed.” - WWII History

From the Publisher