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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: Jimmy Stewart
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:55:27 -0500
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On 2025-01-23 6:14 PM, moviePig wrote:
> On 1/23/2025 5:52 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> On Jan 23, 2025 at 2:39:06 PM PST, "Rhino" 
>> <no_offline_contact@example.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2025-01-23 4:11 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>>   On Jan 23, 2025 at 12:57:36 PM PST, "Rhino" 
>>>> <no_offline_contact@example.com>
>>>>   wrote:
>>>>>   On 2025-01-23 3:11 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>>>>     I just learned something I never knew:
>>>>>>     Jimmy Stewart (the actor) was a soldier in WWII and rose from 
>>>>>> the rank of
>>>>>>     private to colonel during the war and retired in 1968 as a 2- 
>>>>>> star general.
>>>>>>     He’s only one of a handful of soldiers who have accomplished that
>>>>>> dramatic a
>>>>>>     rise through the ranks of the Army. And he wasn’t just doing 
>>>>>> “celebrity
>>>>>>   duty”
>>>>>>     in the Army, either. During the war, he flew dozens of B-52 
>>>>>> combat sorties
>>>>>>     over Nazi Germany.
>>>>>   I knew most of that but not that he had started as a private; for 
>>>>> some
>>>>>   reason, I thought pilots started higher up the food chain. I 
>>>>> don't think
>>>>>   he finally retired for the Air Force Reserve in 1968 when he 
>>>>> reached the
>>>>>   mandatory retirement age of 60. He was even on a flight during the
>>>>>   Vietnam War as an observer.
>>>>>
>>>>>   You're slightly wrong about his final rank: he was a brigadier 
>>>>> general.
>>>>>   Or so says Wikipedia anyway. A brigadier general is a 1-star 
>>>>> general,
>>>>>   not a 2-star. But he did reach the highest rank of any actor in 
>>>>> American
>>>>>   military history.
>>>>   He was a brigadier when he retired but they promoted him to major 
>>>> general on
>>>>   his retirement date so the official record shows him at the higher 
>>>> rank
>>>> (which
>>>>   also means a higher military pension). This is not uncommon for 
>>>> officers who
>>>>   retire in good standing. My own father retired at one rank higher 
>>>> than he
>>>> was
>>>>   when he put in his papers.
>>> Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that practice.
>>>
>>>>>   Many other actors served in the world wars. Humphrey Bogart 
>>>>> served in
>>>>>   WWI in the Navy and a bit of shrapnel hit him in the face during an
>>>>>   enemy bombardment causing his speech to change slightly to what 
>>>>> we all
>>>>>   know from his films. However, Wikipedia says this account is 
>>>>> disputed
>>>>>   and several other incidents are cited as possible sources of the 
>>>>> scar on
>>>>>   his lip.
>>>>>
>>>>>   Eddie Albert (Oliver from Green Acres) served in the Navy in WWII 
>>>>> and
>>>>>   earned a Bronze Star for actions in the Pacific.
>>>>>
>>>>>   Clark Gable served on bombers over Europe during WWII as a gunner.
>>>>>   Hitler valued Gable above all other actors and offered a reward to
>>>>>   anyone who could bring him Gable unscathed if he happened to 
>>>>> crash or
>>>>>   jump from a plane during a mission. Apparently, Hitler was 
>>>>> fascinated by
>>>>>   Gable's EARS and wanted to study them closely. As I understand it,
>>>>>   Gable's ears raised some interesting questions about Hitler's racial
>>>>>   theories but I don't know any further details.
>>>>>
>>>>>   This is only a very few of the actors who served in war. There 
>>>>> was a lot
>>>>>   of social pressure on all men, including actors, to serve in 
>>>>> WWII. A fewC
>>>>>   actors escaped military service when their studios deemed them too
>>>>>   valuable to risk and got exemptions for them but most served if they
>>>>>   were physically able.
>>>>   And of course Elvis was drafted and served two years in Germany.
>>> Ditto for Johnny Cash, who was in the Air Force, also in Germany.
>>> Jimi Hendrix served in the 101st Airborne during his military service,
>>> although he was discharged early(?) because he was a lousy shot and was
>>> not thought to have the makings of a good soldier.
>>
>> Can you imagine any of our current crop of celebrities going willingly 
>> to war
>> to fight for the nation? There may be some but none leap readily to 
>> mind. The
>> only ones I can think of are now too old to serve.
> 
> I can imagine that increased cynicism has befallen most any broad swath 
> of society over recent decades.
> 
> 
The "progressives" fanned the flames of that cynicism with everything 
they could muster.

-- 
Rhino