[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10064-10065]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   JIMMY STEWART--ACTOR--U.S. GENERAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, he was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on May 
20, 1908.
  Jimmy became a Boy Scout and remained active in the organization 
throughout his adulthood.
  Of course, I'm talking about Jimmy Stewart. He made more than 80 
films, including comedies, Westerns and dramas.
  Jimmy Stewart won an Academy Award for best performance by an actor 
in 1940 for his performance in ``The Philadelphia Story.'' He also 
received four other Oscar nominations for his performances in ``Mr. 
Smith Goes to Washington,'' a movie which by the way all Members of 
Congress should be required to watch, and my personal favorite, ``It's 
a Wonderful Life.'' He also appeared in ``Anatomy of a Murder.''
  Jimmy Stewart was voted the third greatest movie star of all time by 
Entertainment Weekly. Jimmy Stewart appeared in a number of television 
shows and Broadway plays and received a Tony award.
  Although Jimmy Stewart would have preferred to attend the Naval 
Academy, Stewart entered his father's alma mater, Princeton University, 
in the fall of 1928. He initially considered engineering, but he 
finally settled on architecture as his course of study, at which he 
excelled. He graduated from Princeton in 1932.
  While he was building his reputation as an actor, the rest of the 
world was about to go to war. Germany occupied numerous countries in 
the early part of 1940, and it led Congress to be concerned. And on 
September 16, 1940, this Congress passed the Selective Service Bill, 
which we now refer to as ``The Draft.''
  Stewart's draft number was 310, and when his number was called, he 
appeared at Draft Board No. 245 in Los Angeles in February of 1941.
  A 6-foot-3 Stewart weighed only 138 pounds. He was 5 pounds under the 
acceptable weight limit. He was turned down, but Stewart wanted to fly 
and serve his country, but by May of 1941 he would have been too old to 
get into flight school. He went home after that day of being rejected 
by the draft, and he ate everything he could that fattened him up. He 
went back and he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, and he passed the 
physical with 2 ounces to spare.
  While others tried to avoid the draft, Jimmy Stewart actually wanted 
to serve in the military. Later, he would actually campaign to see 
combat. He was already a licensed pilot. He was interested in aviation 
as a child. He had taken his first flight while still in Indiana from 
one of those barnstorming pilots that used to travel throughout the 
Midwest.
  He was a successful actor in 1935, and so he was able to afford 
flying lessons. He often flew cross-country to visit his parents in 
Pennsylvania, and he navigated by watching the railroad tracks.
  In the military, he was to make extensive use of his pilot training. 
In March 1941, at the age of 32, he reported for duty as Private James 
Stewart at Fort MacArthur and was assigned to the Army Air Corps. To 
comply with the regulations of the Army

[[Page 10065]]

Air Corps Proficiency Board, he was required to take 100 additional 
flying hours, and he did so and bought them at a nearby field at his 
own expense.
  Then, in January 1942, Stewart was commissioned a second lieutenant. 
He was then sent to California at Mather Field as a twin engine 
instructor which included both B-17s and B-24s. Much to his dismay, 
Stewart stayed stateside for almost 2 years, until his commanding 
officers finally yielded to his constant request to be sent overseas 
and to see combat.
  So, in November of 1943, Captain Stewart, now a captain and 
operations officer for the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, of 
the Eight Air Force, he arrived in England. Later, he was transferred 
to the 453rd Bombardment Group.
  While stateside, Stewart flew B-17s, commonly called the Flying 
Fortress, and in England and over Europe he flew B-24s, referred to by 
historians as The Liberator, and he did so for the remaining years of 
the war.
  Stewart's war record included 20 dangerous combat missions as command 
pilot, wing commander or even squadron commander. He was awarded the 
Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters; the Air Medal 
with three Oak Leaf Clusters; the French Croix de Guerre with Palm; and 
at the end of the war, he had risen to the rank of colonel.
  After the war, he remained in the United States Air Force Reserves 
and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. Mr. Speaker, he remains 
the highest ranking officer in U.S. military history that was also a 
Hollywood actor.
  In 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded Jimmy Stewart the Nation's 
highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  Jimmy Stewart believed in hard work, love of country, love of family, 
love of community, and love of God. Jimmy Stewart passed away on July 
2, 1997, at the age of 89. Jimmy Stewart would be 100 years old today, 
and America still needs heroes, and Jimmy Stewart still continues to 
fit that bill.
  And that's just the way it is.

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