Taken from Wikipedia...
In August 1943 he was finally assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group at
Sioux City AAB, Iowa, first as Operations Officer of the 703rd Bombardment Squadron and then as its commander, at the rank of Captain. In December, the 445th Bombardment Group flew its
B-24 Liberator bombers to
RAF Tibenham,
England and immediately began combat operations. While flying missions over Germany, Stewart was promoted to Major. In March 1944, he was transferred as group operations officer to the
453rd Bombardment Group, a new B-24 unit that had been experiencing difficulties. As a means to inspire his new group, Stewart flew as command pilot in the lead B-24 on numerous missions deep into Nazi-occupied Europe. These missions went
uncounted at Stewart's orders. His "official" total is listed as 20 and is limited to those with the 445th. In 1944, he twice received the
Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat and was awarded the
Croix de Guerre. He also received the
Air Medal with three
oak leaf clusters. In July 1944, after flying 20 combat missions, Stewart was made
Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the
Eighth Air Force. Before the war ended, he was promoted to colonel, one of very few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.
At the beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the
court-martial of a pilot and navigator who were charged with dereliction of duty when they
accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Zurich the previous March – the first instance of U.S. personnel being tried over an attack on a neutral country. The Court acquitted the accused.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-33>
[34]</SUP>
Stewart continued to play an active role in the
United States Air Force Reserve after the war, achieving the rank of
Brigadier General on July 23, 1959.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-34>
[35]</SUP> Stewart did not often talk of his wartime service, perhaps due to his desire to be seen as a regular soldier doing his duty instead of as a celebrity. He did appear on the TV series,
The World At War to discuss the October 14, 1943, bombing mission to
Schweinfurt, which was the center of the German ball bearing manufacturing industry. This mission is known in USAF history as
Black Thursday due to the high casualties it sustained; in total, 60 aircraft were lost out of 291 dispatched, as the raid consisting entirely of B-17s was unescorted all the way to Schweinfurt and back due to the contemporary escort aircraft available lacking the range. Fittingly, he was identified only as "James Stewart, Squadron Commander" in the documentary.
He served as Air Force Reserve commander of
Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the early 1950s. In 1966, Brigadier General James Stewart flew as a non-duty observer in a
B-52 on a bombing mission during the Vietnam conflict. At the time of his B-52 flight, he refused the release of any publicity regarding his participation as he did not want it treated as a stunt, but as part of his job as an officer in the Air Force Reserve. After 27 years of service, Stewart retired from the Air Force on May 31, 1968.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-35>
[36]</SUP>
