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Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: Jimmy Stewart Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 23:04:37 -0500 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 111 Message-ID: <vmv3gl$22aj5$2@dont-email.me> References: <vmu7ol$1phml$3@dont-email.me> <vmuag1$1psmo$1@dont-email.me> <vmub9r$1phml$6@dont-email.me> <vmugea$1psmo$3@dont-email.me> <vmuh7c$1r9vd$2@dont-email.me> <vmuige$1rove$1@dont-email.me> <vmuktf$1psmo$5@dont-email.me> Reply-To: nobody@nowhere.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2025 05:04:38 +0100 (CET) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="a773564301da963c77943f41795e223d"; logging-data="2173541"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+NOHnefhSaRvrpMKbKyoQ1TO21GdNb/UI=" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:PN+OMrpJl1RKVw81D50gRhx1134= Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: <vmuktf$1psmo$5@dont-email.me> Bytes: 5942 On 1/23/2025 6:55 PM, Rhino wrote: > 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. One suspects there's little your "progressives" *aren't* to blame for.