George Kennedy on James Stewart 

RE his combat history, you are referencing his later war, when he had risen further in rank (up to Colonel). In his first combat assignment, he had risen to Captain as a pilot, then Major as a squadron leader and Lieutenant Colonel as a group commander. He flew in all those capacities, once in a devastating mission in which only 4 planes out of 19 returned home. Officially his mission count was halted at 20, since neither he nor his superiors wanted him to register the combat points that could retire his combat service. In actuality, it exceeded 20 by a considerable amount; no one knows quite how much. In his words, he "wanted to be of some use" in military service, a career in which he also excelled (starting as a Private and ending as a Major General). Flying captured his fascination as a teen, and the two paired up into a more predictable career than acting, which was something more of a bonus career. And what a bonus! Courageous without a hint of boastfulness or pomposity, he exercised a quiet authority with kindness and understanding, knowing when to be strict and when to loose the reins. He was outraged only by the inhumane. With gentle good humor he won all our hearts. I admire him tremendously.

Part of that is that Jimmy Stuart tended to be understated about his wartime service. His 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 4 Air Medals speak to something more than "run of the mill" flying.

Stewart had over 400 flight hours as a civilian pilot when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941, and became an instructor for both the B-17 and B-24. In November 1943, Stewart was sent to England as Operations Officer for the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force, transferring to the 453rd Bombardment Group in March 1944. Stewart flew 20 dangerous combat missions as a B-24 command pilot, wing commander or squadron commander, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. After the war Stewart remained with the US Air Force Reserves and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1959. Took about .05 seconds to do a Google search. This excerpt from nationalaviation.org

@@ScoutSniper3124 Nicely summarized. He joined up as a private, by the way, so he rose from Private to General. He was a Corporal when he applied to be a pilot with those 400 hours of experience, and that is what earned him his commission as a Second Lieutenant. Instead of putting him to work as a pilot, they made him a flight instructor, because that kind of expertise was scarce and they had great need to train many more pilots. One more thing: he rose to Major General in 1982 by order of President Reagan. Though retired from regular duty, he had been serving many years in the Reserves, where he continued for quite some time.

@@farmergiles1065 He enlisted before Pearl Harbor, and he had already won an Oscar.

My grandma and my mother is obsessed too. And now I'm obsessed.

@@SailaSobriquet This was George Kennedy speaking who died in 2016 so it could have been sometime before then too.

Sometime between April 14th, 1994 (when TCM first launched) and July 2nd 1997 (when Jimmy died).