Thursday, October 6, 2016

Jimmy Stewart suffered such extreme PTSD after being a bonber pilot in World War II that he acted out his mental distress during 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

Via David

Matzen's book, Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe, hits bookstores on October 24 and is available for order on Amazon 
Fellow actor Clark Gable (right, with Stewart) also entered the military and was sent into combat 
When men were men.

 Just minutes after a harrowing conclusion to a nearly 13-hour B-52 bombing mission, Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart greets relieved crew and VIPs on the tarmac at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on February 21, 1966. Photo courtesy Bob Amos.

Stewart did not leave the military and continued to serve until May 1968 when he retired after 27 years of service during which time he was a bomber pilot during the Vietnam War.


Stewart played George Bailey in the classic movie and channeled his anger and guilt into the scenes where he rages at his family.

Stewart was haunted by 'a thousand black memories' from his time as an Air Force commanding officer that he took with him back to Hollywood after the war.

Pilots who flew with him said that became 'Flak Happy' during World War II, a term to describe what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Stewart wrestled with the guilt of killing civilians in bomb raids over France and Germany including one instance where they destroyed the wrong city by mistake.

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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 6, 2016 at 10:27 PM

    UMMMMM Bullshit. Col. James Stuart USAAF later Brig Gen Stuart USAF. Flew his full tour as a B-24 pilot and was made wing commander(a desk job) in 1945. HE NEVER GOT IN THE COCKPIT OF A FIGHTER. After WW2 he stayed on in the USAFR as a SAC B-36 and later B-47 pilot. No "ptsd" NO "flack happy". He had to pass a regular mental health screening and have a spotless record to fly Nuke armed bombers for SAC. Hell, in the 1950's you couldn't get on a SAC BASE without a "head shrinker" signing your chit. The whole story is 100% made up bullshit.---Ray

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    1. Brock TownsendOctober 6, 2016 at 10:37 PM

      HE NEVER GOT IN THE COCKPIT OF A FIGHTER.

      I saw no mention of a fighter.

      =================

      After WW2 he stayed on in the USAFR as a SAC B-36 and later B-47 pilot. No "ptsd" NO "flack happy". He had to pass a regular mental health screening and have a spotless record to fly Nuke armed bombers for SAC. Hell, in the 1950's you couldn't get on a SAC BASE without a "head shrinker" signing your chit. The whole story is 100% made up bullshit.

      You seem to have a difference of opinion with others.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousOctober 7, 2016 at 10:39 AM

      Yup, the fighter pilot thing is incorrect. In August 1943, Stewart was assigned to the 445th Bomb Group as operations officer of the 703d Bombardment Squadron, but after three weeks became its commander. I believe he flew B-17's and B-24's. In any event General Stuart was a dedicated American patriot who loved his country.

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    3. Brock TownsendOctober 7, 2016 at 12:37 PM

      I guess I took 'fighter pilot' as other than bombers.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousOctober 7, 2016 at 12:27 PM

    I would concur with the PTSD (or what ever term was used at that time). Killing another person, even if it is for cause and you are "just following order" like a good soldier should, is still an unnatural act. I can not being to imagine what it is like to know an innocent person is dead because of your actions, even if it was a mistake. It is my understanding that those how have been in combat, and have killed another, generally don't want to talk about. They don't brag about the lives they have took.

    As for that "without a "head shrinker" signing your chit" all that means to me, is the Doc signed off that you will follow orders when told to do so, with the least amount of questioning and can keep your cool under pressure.

    Again I cite Kipling: "If any question why we died, tell them because our fathers lied". And my I add, why the other guy died as well. Because of a lie. How many innocent others of in other countries are dead because our leaders in lied to us about why our troops where send to a foreign country?

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    1. Brock TownsendOctober 7, 2016 at 12:41 PM

      How many others innocent in other countries are dead

      Innocent both as civilians and those who fought alongside of us only to be abandoned. I have no idea in the world why any country takes our word after Vietnam. Baffling.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 7, 2016 at 1:17 PM

    In the 1950's ALL Strategic Air Command , Command Pilots and Aircraft Commanders had to undergo the same mental health evaluation as SAC ICBM crews did. If you were EVER found by any military MD to be unfit in any way you were OUT of SAC forever. Because ALL SAC did was Nuke delivery. Nothing else. In WW2 The USAAF had two types of combatant aircraft. Fighters and bombers. I quoted Stewart's bio, "I never sat down in one" about fighters. The whole article is about J.S. service as a "fighter pilot",(a term not used until after WW2) It states that repeatedly. Including the headline. Bomber crews knew going in that they would only get one bomb in fifty within a mile of the target from 25000 feet on a clear day. "Bombing the wrong city" was common in the winter over ALL of Europe in 43,44 and 45. it was expected to happen. But nobody in the ETO felt bad about it as ALL of Germany was a target. As I said this WHOLE article is made up BULLSHIT.---Ray

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    1. Brock TownsendOctober 7, 2016 at 1:30 PM

      ALL of Germany was a target.

      Just like the South was, right Ray?

      Delete

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