NorwichDad
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Yes, he retired as a brigadier general in the USAF Reserve.* He flew on a single B-52 mission over Viet Nam as an observer, not command pilot. I don't know about Korea.
In addition to his WW-II experience with the B-17 and B-24, he was command pilot qualified during the Cold War in the B-36, B-47 and the B-52.
He refused to play in war movies because he felt that they would not depict combat accurately. (Strategic Air Command was a rare exception.) He suffered from PTSD as well, having written many letters to families of fallen crewmembers of his bomb group, as well as having narrowly dodged flak bursts.
He was also a Gold Star parent as his stepson, 1st Lt. Ron McLean was a Marine platoon leader who died in combat in Viet Nam.
For more info:
http://www.historynet.com/mr-stewart-goes-to-war.htm
http://www.historynet.com/mr-stewart-goes-to-vietnam.htm
* In 1985, President Reagan presented Stewart with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and also promoted him to Major General (two star) on the retired USAF lists.
One exception to his stance against making war movies. "The Mountain Road".
Wow...nice find, good knowledge!
This film was made in 1960 whereas, "Strategic Air Command" was released five years earlier (1955). Perhaps he changed his feelings about some films after that.
A good recent book on Stewart's military career is "Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe" by Robert Matzen (2016).