Tough Nuts - Tougher Than You Might Imagine
Three true gents who could mix it when the occasion needed it.
James Stewart
It’s hard to believe the guy with the hangdog expression from Harvey was as tough as Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin. But look at Jimmy Stewart’s war record and argue otherwise. Already an Oscar winner when he enlisted, Stewart signed up for the air force a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s official entry into World War 2. What’s more, he should have been excused service for being five pounds underweight but asked the examiner to overlook this, after which he piloted 20 bomber mission over Germany. Rising to the rank of colonel, Stewart’s bravery earned him the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross and seven Battle Stars before he was made a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. His courage never spilled over into arrogance, mind you; outside of making a film inspired by his exploits (1955’s Strategic Air Command) and appearing in ITV’s The World At War, Stewart refused to discuss his service in interviews.
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