The Military Service of JIMMY STEWART

his father was a veteran of both the  Spanish-American War and World War One being in the military was simply  part of his family's traditions upon first enlisting Jimmy was rejected from  the military for being underweight this was in November of 1940. he gained some weight and  successfully enlisted in February of 1941. because Jimmy had some experience as an amateur  pilot he asked to be inducted as a private in the still new Air corps yet at almost 33 years old  Jimmy was considered too old

to be a candidate for Aviation Cadet training this training was  the usual path to becoming commissioned as a pilot Navigator or a bombardier in the Air  corps to get past this barrier Jimmy applied to receive an Air corps commission both as a  college graduate and as a licensed commercial pilot this path worked for him and Jimmy  received a commission as a second lieutenant