Jimmy Stewart - The Soldier's Biography And The Story Of His Record Breaker P-51 "Thunderbird"
Вставка
- Опубліковано 12 жов 2023
- Jimmy Stewart - The Soldier's Biography And The Story Of His Record Breaker P-51 "Thunderbird"
James "Jimmy" Stewart won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story also starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in 1940. Stewart was riding high and MGM was expecting big things from him. What he chose to do next was bigger than anyone could have imagined. Like his ancestors before him, Stewart enlisted in the United States Army to the dismay of MGM.
The Stewart family tradition of serving in the military goes back to Jimmy’s third great-grandfather, Fergus Moorhead, who served in the Revolutionary War. Jimmy’s maternal grandfather was a general for the Union in the Civil War. His father Alex, served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Jimmy Stewart entered the Army as a private and at the end of WWII was a colonel in the Army Air Corps, fully decorated as the result of the 20 combat missions he flew over Germany as leader of a squadron of B-24s. Among the medals, he was awarded were two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Croix de Guerre.
Stewart continued his military career after WWII by serving in the Air Force Reserves and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. President Reagan awarded him the Medal of Freedom, which is the highest award that can be awarded to a civilian in the United States.
Following the war, Jimmy got right back into the business of making movies. His first post-war performance in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life earned him an Academy Award nomination. Initially, this film was a box office bust, it has become the most famous Christmas holiday film in Hollywood history. It was also Stewart’s and Frank Capra’s favorite films.
Hollywood star (and US Air Force Reserve Colonel) James Stewart, posing with the winning P-51 Mustang called 'Thunderbird' at the 1949 Bendix Air Race. Stewart was the aircraft's co-owner at the time. The transcontinental point-to-point race was held from 1931 until 1962.
Higher Resolution Image: tinyurl.com/5n6jc6cx
A ten-year-old boy paints a picture of a P-51 Mustang on his bedroom wall and dreams that he is in the cockpit, swooping through a cathedral of clouds at 400mph. Everyone intrigued with warbirds likely shared this same fantasy at some point during childhood, but for most, flying a Mustang will always elude us. But this story concerns more than wistful aspirations, it is about how that same 10-year-old boy made his dream a reality. Looking up at his wall, a young Warren Pietsch vowed that someday he would own and fly a P-51… but he couldn’t do it alone.
Warren’s father, Al Pietsch, owned Pietsch Flying Service in Minot, North Dakota, and Warren was fortunate to grow up in the family aviation business. In the 1990s Warren took ownership of the company and renamed it Pietsch Aircraft Restoration & Repair, Inc. which would eventually become Minot Aero Center. Warren’s father, his mother Eleanor, and brothers Gary and Kent were all pilots and supported Warren’s flying career early on. Many others were also encouraging: Gary Johnson, a mechanic and pilot who began working for Warren’s dad in 1964 and now works for Warren; Don Larson, chairman of the Dakota Territory Air Museum; close friends Brian Sturm, Jay Blessum, and many others, played roles in Warren’s aviation story.
Over the years, as his experience and pilot qualifications expanded, Warren had the chance to fly warbirds, like the Mustang, with the Dakota Territory Air Museum and Texas Flying Legends. These opportunities arose because people in the warbird industry like Casey Odegaard, Bernie Vasquez, Doug Rozendaal, Dusty Dowd, and Forest Lovely all provided friendship, knowledge, encouragement, and/or training. Warren couldn’t have ventured down this path with Thunderbird without fellow dreamers like Gerry Beck and Bob Odegaard - it takes an industry to bring these aircraft back to life.
In 1999, Warren purchased what he believed to be a damaged P-51A in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It was only later that he discovered that what he’d actually acquired were the mortal remains of Thunderbird, the iconic blue P-51C which Jimmy Stewart once flew in the Bendix Air Races just after WWII. This discovery, and the incredible history of this specific Mustang, began Warren’s journey to restore Thunderbird as a tribute to its legendary owners. Jimmy Stewart, Joe DeBona, Jackie Cochran, and Jim Cook. Thunderbird is truly a people’s airplane because of the many folks involved with the dream since the beginning, and those tasked with breathing life into the project.
Join this channel to support it:
/ @dronescapes
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes, and their stories, and missions: / @dronescapes
#b24 #p51mustang #jimmystewart - Наука та технологія
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes, and their stories, and missions ➤ www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes
Join this channel ➤ ua-cam.com/channels/TTqBgYdkmFogITlPDM0M4A.htmljoin
➤ IG: instagram.com/dronescapesvideos/
➤ TWITTER (X): tinyurl.com/m86k2ypf
Hollywood is greatly missing classy people like Jimmy Stewart.
I was thinking the same. General Stewart was a great guy. I probably watched most of his movies since I was a kid.
Rear Window. My mom had me watch that one. Strategic Air Command. I watched that when I was about 7. My dad told me that he was a Real General and a great pilot.
Hollywood people aren't anything like that anymore
Not just Hollywood 😢
one of my favourite human beings
So,so true.
I agree
A life lived to the fullest, in spirit and integrity. One hell of an Actor, and Pilot. God bless him.
He was the best America has produced: selfless, exceptional in everything he did and courageous beyond measure. No ego, no self promotion, or other bs. He was the ultimate patriot. We could use more men like him.
And Women, Like Governor Kristi Lynn.Noem. Capeesh. 🤺🤺🤺🤺🇺🇲
As a post production assistant i was tasked with driving out to his house to get him to sign off on a film clip we needed. This was around 1994- 95. He was elderly and had a wool blanket wrapped around him. He was very frendly and we chatted... i was never one to be star struck but was this time..lol
Loved Jimmy in all he’s done. Cheyenne Social Club was one of my favorites. I never heard anything bad about him or his family. He was a great man, a poet also and a hugh honorary man. A true original. There were a few good men from that era with class that hasn’t been in Hollywood since. I miss the pride they expelled as people both on the set and off. He was a real gentleman which is something rare and seen far and between the average Joe. I miss having the screen actors that you could look up to . There are no shows made today that a actor with morals could play in. Everything is trashy. Our actors and actresses of yesterday would never do the movies they are doing today. Pure trash. No family shows.
Something struck me as mildly amusing. In "Strategic Air Command" he was getting paid $70k/year to play baseball and took a pay cut to whatever a Lt Col makes but, in real life, he took a $71k+ pay cut to enlist. He's always been my hero from as far back as I can remember.
Back then our Hollywood heroes, were often real life heroes.
Art was imitating life.
Beautiful segment about a guy I respect.
Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart were entertaining Troops in Vietnam. Hope was entertaining and Stewart just stood there. Finally Hope says "Say aren't you going to do anything." To which Stewart Replied "You see I am a General, and Generals don't do anything." Giving the troops a good laugh at the expense of his rank.
I had the honor of meeting General Stewart in Washington DC while on reserve duty! I heard his voice first! Knew right away who it was! He was extremely nice and acknowledged us young officers with a hello and a smile! What a great man! Not many generals would stop to say hello to young Captains! He deserves that star that was so hard to get for him!
Brigadier General James Stewart has become a hero to this retired Airman and Soldier. He typified what is best about America. He was great at two careers independent of each other. A great actor the likes we so lack today. A military officer with the type of leadership that men gravitate to and is so extremely rare in the service. America was so blessed to have this man of so many talents as part of our history.
During Vietnam, the B-52 Bomber morale was low due to losses. General James Stewart volunteered to fly on a B-52 on a bombing mission over North Vietnam to see what it was like for himself and to raise morale. He flew with a Captain IP who didn't really know who he was, but Jimmy, as was his nature, was very humble and didn't pull rank on him. The mission went well and Jimmy reassured a lot of frightened company grade officers that B-52 bombing missions over North Vietnam were not unduly dangerous. 🤠
The B-52 losses only happened when the B-52 when into Hanoi an Haiphong during the Christmas 1972 bombing offensive. BG Stewart was retired then. His two missions were over South Vietnam and were quite safe except for mechanical problems. Most of the B-52 losses were from SAC directed routes in which the B-52s flew in trail on the exact same course cell after cell. The plan also called for a sharp turn after bombs away. This exposed the huge underside of the BUFF to missile radars. The jamming equipment was not strong enough to counter this. It didn't take the North Vietnamese long to figure all this out. After the bombing break, staff in theater was allowed to plan the missions. Now the bombers came in from multiple angles and altitudes to the target at very close to the same time and no longer turned immediately after bombs away. Losses dropped dramatically. On the last day of the offensive, the North Vietnamese ran out of SA-2 missile to fire.
I talked with a B-52 pilot that flew some of the missions. On one he told his co-pilot the airplane was his. He was going to count missiles. He gave up as missiles were coming up faster than he could count!
@@klsc8510 Excellent commentary
he was awarded a second star in retirement by President Ronald Reagan, making him a Major General
A truly great man. Superb actor, war hero, legend.
Never new he was a brigadier general. I've always had respect for him for serving his country. He was a outstanding man.
He was a Brig in the Air Force Reserve and base commander WHILE being an actor, and even after retiring from acting. He served and flew in WW2 and Korea and even Vietnam as a bomber pilot. He was also promoted to a two star after his death. Yes, an outstanding man indeed.
Wrong on several points. Stewart was retirement from military service years before acting , did not serve in Korea, and was promoted to Major General by President Regan while still very much alive
@johnbailey5304 you wrong on several points, jimmy Stewart was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. He was not promoted to major general by Ronald Reagan either.
@mikewhite6288 I draw your attention to the US Air Force Reserves recruitment channel of UA-cam. They state in one of their downloads that Stewart
was promoted to major general by President Reagan.
@johnbailey5304 jimmy Stewart was promoted to full colonel march 29 1945, and by July 23 1959 was promoted to brigadier general, and he retired in 1968 as a brigadier general. Nothing was ever said he was a major general. So how could Ronald Reagan promoted him to major general? It would be another 12years before Reagan was president.
Jimmy Stewart was a different and amazing actor. When you watch a John Wayne movie. You're watching John Wayne. Jimmy Stewart was forgettable in movies. Because when you watched his movies. You forgot you were watching Jimmy Stewart. You were watching the character he portrayed. You weren't watching Jimmy Stewart in "The Glen Miller Story" you were watching Glen Miller. You didn't see Jimmy Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life" you were watching George Bailey. Him and other actors that did what they had too during WWII, is astounding knowing they could have easily gotten out of it.
Have always admired Jimmy Stewart.
My father met Col James Stewart in 1946 when he was passing through LHR. From then on he looked for my father whenever he passed through London.
A man whose public persona matched his personal life!
He is the epitome of the very best America has ever produced. My regret is that I will never be able to meet him...everyone who had the chance has said what an amazingly kind man he was.
Wow from the fact my father was a pilot and I grew up around aviation. The thing that got my attention is my father built and sold two Starduster 2 airplanes in our shop at home, and t he P 51 has always been my favorite aircraft. Lost my father couple years ago at 82 ,brings back so many memories
Real American hero…lost men under his command and was deeply changed after the war…
True Fact!
While in the reserves in the 60's he got checked out in one of the "century series" fighters
He got his supersonic check ride from none other than Chuck Yeager
❤Jimmy Stewart
Have to love history and those who keep it alive
Clearly one of the Greatest of all times!
This ladies and gentlemen was a real man .
They don’t make them like Mr Stewart anymore!
One of my favorite actors.
I remember jimmy he was a great actor I was born in 42 years ago thanks for his service in the military ❤
There are so many men and women that serve. They have been, and are, such high caliber. God Bless them all.
No better. Actor no better airman no better American as air force vet he was and is my hero. rIP general we still miss u
One of my top three heroes as a child Jimmy, John Wayne and may dad who flew gliders into Normandy during d-day WW II.
Never knew this about him. Enjoyed his movies.
Mr. Stewart was an amazing guy...he did his own Volvo oil changes and other work...while he allways had his wife Gloria's Mercedes SL dealer serviced.
Growing up in Hobbs, NM, many times I was told that Jimmy Stewart received his B17 flight trining at the Hobbs Army Airfield located in Hobbs, NM. Airbase City still exists in some form, the runways are still there, many bunkers that held explosive bombs and ammunition are still there.
3:21 I seem to remember a movie about Lindberg that had Jimmy Stewart playing the part of his hero.
I just gained a new respect for Jimmy 🫡
General Stewart's biography missed the fact that he was promoted to Major General in his retirement by President Reagan. He also flew on B-52 mission over Vietnam during Operation Arc Light and his plane came back heavily damaged by an SA-2.
A real, genuine hero by any measure who seemed bothered by his hero status. He spoke at the Air Force Museum during the Air Force's 40th Anniversary celebration and I've never met anyone else who just made you want to sit and talk with him. Only Jim Lovell comes close in my experience.
Hopefully, some day his being promoted to Major General will come to light in an official capacity. Also, I read that during that flight over Vietnam, something dangerous did occur to the aircraft (perhaps a B52) he was on ( can't recall if he was the pilot) but he remained calm during the incident.
Addendum: Forgot to mention that the promotion was by then President Ronald Reagan.
@user-yz7go5no1q , he flew as a check pilot on a B-52G during Linebacker 2 and the plane came back badly damaged. His promotion to Major General was completely official. I was in the Air Force at the time and I seem to remember it coinciding with the 40th Anniversary celebration in September of 1987.
Thank you for the information. Have wondered about that for long and often.
In 1967, doing my duty as a soldier digging a Fox hole a Huey landed about 50’ from my fox hole, out Stepped Jimmy. I was shocked, Jimmy walked right over to me said hi and I could not speak. My camera was there and he asked about…..couldn’t answer. He must a thought that’s good chance to take of me, but me being shocked more so than being shelled. I’ll never forget!!
All American 🇺🇲 Patriot, James Maitland Stewart, I Had The Pleasure Watching This Man At The Movies, A Superb Actor And, An Exceptional, Human Being. One Of The Greatest Generation. I'm Glad I Grew Up In The Fifties. Capeesh, 🤺🤺🤺🤺🇺🇲 Semper Fi.⚔ Do Or Die, 🇺🇲
Brilliant 🤩
The Cheyenne Social Club was one of his best movies, along wth a short part in John Wayne’s“The Shootist” and “The Glen Miller Story”👍
Oh man, why just pick three? Every movie he did he leant a certain presence to it, as far as I'm concerned all the movies he did were great, the man had a certain essence which is hard to define in these days of so called "Blockbuster" movies. He was part of a generation of legendary actors, all great in their own way and of the likes, sadly, we'll never see again.
Wally - Stewart Was Great As John Wayne's Doctor In The Shootist.
A military man, who became a General.
As others starts back then. Patriots who left Hollywood to fight.
So why can’t we have more men like him. An American patriotic actor who was real hero, a real man. So we go from men like him to what we have today! WOW🤷🏻♂️😱💩
Iam 66 but have always loved jimmy
A true legend
One of the finest men who ever lived in this country. American ohs so much to this man.
A big thank you to Warren Pietsch et al for the huge project that was the restoration.
Dick Grace was another North Dakota man who also was a great patriot
A wonderful, humble man, greatly missed. P-51 and B-17, my faves!!!
12:54 I saw another UA-cam video that documented Clark Gable as also flying bombers in WW2 and having the same problem of the movie studio and army brass not wanting a famous movie star taking too many risks, Gable also found ways to go on missions that made the studios nervous, he didn't like the idea that his fellows would think he was taking advantage of his celebrity status.
Great American warrior love James Stewart. ❤
The Only War Movie He Ever Starred IN As a Combat Soldier,
Was As Demolition Engineer Major,
In "The Mountain Road" (1960).
Wow! There's a Jimmy Stewart Museum! That's awesome! 😎👍👍👍👍👍
My maiden name is The Same as Jimmy’s middle name 🤔yes I’m American Scottish through and through and was raised in the Presbyterian church. Also my dad was a B-24 bomber pilot in WW2 both of my parents were born & raised in Johnstown PA & I was raised in PA
This is not about you.
thank-you again for an interesting collection of videos and glad to see the Mustang is salvaged and rebuilt.
Our pleasure!
$15 bucks was serious money back then .
$15 in 1920 is worth $230.84 today
From an inflation calculator.
It was .
It's called the "time value of money". A dollar is worth more three years ago than it is today. Old Joe Biden doesn't understand it and has us in an inflationary spiral where wages are futiley chasing inflation. None of this had to be. We could have had prosperity instead of suffering for the last 3 years. 🤠
And u know he earned and saved every penny of it working hard doing hard jobs.
Terrific video of a great man!
He flew more missions but kept it quiet at the time.
Jimmy Stewart was one of 3 that earned that rank or equivalent from Hollywood celebrities. John Ford became a Rear Admiral because of his propaganda film work.
But what if the other missing celebrity. That would be Merian C. Cooper. Known as a pioneer in films such as technicolor and other techniques and of course “King Kong”. He was also a soldier, in the Vila campaign of Pershing’s as an enlisted soldier of a Florida militia. In WWI flying DH4’s was awarded the Silver Star, stayed in Europe doing humanitarian missions before joining with Fauntleroy to create the Kosciusko Squadron of American volunteers and flew again in the Polish - Bolshevik War (1920-21) and escaped from a Bolshevik pow camp after being shot down. Poland afterwards awarded him their highest medal. Adventuring and filming the next decade before going to Hollywood. When war clouds gathered he was already back in uniform before Pearl Harbor and was part of the scrubbed B24 group that was to supposed to bomb Japan in connection with the Doolittle campaign. He became the Operations Officer for Chennault, planning and participating in many raids. Tex Hill in his book mentions protecting the lead B25 on their highly successful Hong Kong raid that had Cooper in the nose of that lead bomber.
Latter he served as executive officer in two other groups, one being over New Guinea.
His star was delayed because of Marshall’s black book because of a negative comment about Stillwell. Eventually he was given it after Marshall became Secretary of State.
With all of this history he isn’t mentioned in any of these articles about veterans.
John Ford and him were best friends, you will see his name as producer for many John Ford directed movies.
True American. And a Hero in my book .
What a truly great man
Awesome ✨😊✨🇺🇸✨
Jimmy started with a stripe and ended with 5 stars.
1 star
He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Brigadier General ( 1 star)
You know you can correct your I incorrect statement about him having 5 stars to be only having 1 star
I think it was ONLY, 1 STAR,
@@user-gu4xx1jy4qand was promoted by President Reagan in his retirement to 2 stars to become a Major General
Oscar winner and then war hero !
I had a lot of respect for him.
Wow this was a great watch!
A Legend!.
Think about it: DeBona ran out of fuel 63 miles short of Cleveland in the '48 Bendix race. He was averaging 470 mph, which means he was 8 minutes short of fuel. So close, yet so far.
My favorite American by far!!!
Jimmy Stewart was assigned to B17's not B-24's in England. Teh combat videos at 14:55 shows jump bombs dropped from a B-25 on Japanese in the Pacific islands, as indicated by the Japanese aircraft on the ground and the B-25 flying right after.
I have been asked to build some 1/72nd scale models of aircraft that used by the Air Force for a local museum in my hometown here in the panhandle of Florida.
I plan on doing a B-24J in the markings of one that he flew on known as "Mail Call".
You can also do a B-24J named "Nine Yanks and a Jerk" A book has been written about that airplane. Major James Stewart flew two of his 20 missions in that plane. Decals are available. Also decals are available from Wolfpak in England for the B-52F BG Stewart flew two more missions in over South Vietnam. You can do quite a tribute to BG James Stewart. America's star with a star.
@@klsc8510 I wish I could find those Decals as well, since the gentleman who doing those Decals passed away it not known if the family will continue on the Decals or not.
I met him at one of the IPMS/USA conventions in Chattanooga and he informed me that his Decals were limited run.
According to the photos above, it looks like the name on the B-24 was Male Call vice Mail Call.
Sorry, mine are not for sale! I have started the B-24 they are going on. The B-52F deecals are currently available as I just ordered them.
That $15 for his first flight would be about $230 today.
I agree!
I was lucky to Mr. Jimmy Steward at an Bob Hope Stateside OSU Tour in 73 with 72000 other patrons. Cotton Bowl Stadium Ft.Worth Texas. Young boy of 9.
Must have been a scream on the set of Night Passage. Jimmy on one hand and Medal of Honor holder Audie. Men like these are not common anymore. Indeed, the greatest generation!
Excelente video. 👏👏💪💪🇺🇸🇺🇸
That bird sitting on the ramp is so perfect it doesn't look real .looks like a picture of a detailed model
Thanks, Dronie
Another great man the flew bombers in WWII was Tom Landry, after playing as a Longhorn went to war. Eventually became First coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
When guy gibson visited the states they were amazed how
Many missions he had done
Theirs did 25 then they were
Sent home the brits never had that luxury theirs was ongoing!
Anvil chorus is from Verdi, Il Trovatorre. and the premiere was19 January 1853 in Naples and in New York 1855. At this time, Verdi was already writing La Traviata, so there is some crossover between, Traviata, Rigoletto and Trovatore. Anvil chorus is sung by gypsies which represent the hero, Manrico-- taken as llegory, Trovatore is the conflict of oppression of diLuna and the fight for freedom and love by Manrico--but really they are brothers as Manrico kidnapped by Azucena who raises him as her son. It's Verdi, but quite understandable why Stewart would hold this opera dear for it's theme, not simply for the popularity of Anvil chorus but the opera, itself.
I'm reminded of the 1967 movie "Wings Of Fire" starring Suzanne Pleshette, racing P-51's.
Jimmy the actor understood as an American duty and service to his country way better than national politicians of today! He could have been president if he chose to run, but he also understood that television personalities should stick to television and not confuse perception with reality
Today’s Hollywood virtue signal and lecture, Jim Stewart lead by example and inspired the world.
진정한 전쟁영웅!
He went to deyess airbase in Texas in 1968 and was invited to the officers club , but was denied entrance. He was doing a movie where had to have a beard he was out of uniform because of that. Don't remember what happened to base commander. He would catch a flight on military planes
As a high ranking officer he could get free flights. I guess he enjoyed flying on the airforce planes.
First thanks!
I would like to see a story about Red Skelton l’s relationship with FDR and his military service during WW2
It's funny of how I think of Lindburgh now much the same as how I see the Apollo Mission's , Oh it happened but just not how we we're told it happened !
But much respect to Jimmy. He served instead of Spying or cashing in .
Hollywod is completely void of real actors like Jimmy Stewart.
He was a Presbyterian!
Excellent story about a great man. Who was the narrator? It sounds like Wade Goodwyn.
14:50 Alot of palm trees in England!!!
*during latter part of 1943; in late latter half of 1943; in the late 1943; Jimmy Stewartcwas a talented flyer (aviator pilot); true to his nature; forunner (predessor precursor) of FAA;
A real hero, not a celluloid hero 🇺🇸
I don't know since it has a racing engine, but was it based on an Allison or Rolls Royce Merlin engine?
Jimmy Stewart entered the Army before Pearl Harbor not after as is stated
He flew B24 bombers. I never knew of him being a fighter pilot.
Southwest Airlines did not exist in the 40’s. Great job SWA marketing team!
Different southwest airlines.
Anyone else see the strong resemblance to his Dad?
Jimmy Stewart was my 3rd. cousin according to my parents