Mission

Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

by Robert Matzen

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Pub Date Oct 24 2016 | Archive Date Jun 10 2019

GoodKnight Books | Paladin Communications

Biographies & Memoirs | History

Description

It’s a Wonderful Life was the first motion picture Jimmy Stewart made after returning home from World War 2, where he had participated in 20 often-brutal combat missions over Germany and France. When he left Hollywood in March 1941, Jimmy Stewart was America’s boy next door movie star and a recent Academy Award winner. He left all that behind to join the United States Army Air Corps and fulfill his family mission to serve his country—only to face obstacle after obstacle from both Hollywood and Washington. Finally he made his way to the European Theater, where several near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command took away his youthful good looks. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future, suffering what we now know as PTSD. That is the man who embarked on It’s a Wonderful Life.

For the next half century, Stewart refused to discuss his combat experiences and took the story of his service to the grave. Mission presents the first in-depth look at Stewart’s life as a Squadron Commander in the skies over Germany, from takeoff to landing and every key moment in between.

Author Robert Matzen sifted through thousands of Air Force combat reports and the Stewart personnel files; interviewed surviving aviators who flew with Stewart; visited the James Stewart Papers at Brigham Young University; flew in the cockpits of the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator; and walked the earth of air bases in England used by Stewart in his combat missions of 1943-45. What emerges in Mission is the story of a Jimmy Stewart you never knew until now, a story more fantastic than any he brought to the screen.

Advance Praise

Praise for Robert Matzen's Fireball: Carole Lombard & the Mystery of Flight 3

"Devoured Fireball in a single day while recuperating from the Toronto International Film Festival. Fantastic job of research, served up as a real page-turner. It would make a great movie."

—Lou Lumenick, chief film critic, NEW YORK POST

"Rather than dwell on the superficial or get bogged down on the sensational aspects of the story, Matzen treats the subjects of Fireball like real people, getting right to the heart of the men and women the story revolves around. It all culminates in a single, horrible night on a cold dark mountain in Nevada. But that’s not the whole story. Thankfully, Matzen gets deeper into the personalities than others might, and in doing so he makes the book worth reading."

—Jamie Beckett, GENERAL AVIATION NEWS

“Fireball is a gripping, harrowing biography about Lombard and the tragic plane crash that ended her life. Robert Matzen explores the other members of Flight 3, fleshing out a story that wasn’t all Lombard’s. Fireball is an exhaustive examination rendered with all the sincerity and honor it deserves.”

— JOURNEYS IN CLASSIC FILM

Praise for Robert Matzen's Fireball: Carole Lombard & the Mystery of Flight 3

"Devoured Fireball in a single day while recuperating from the Toronto International Film Festival. Fantastic job of...

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About the Author:

Robert Matzen is the author of seven books, including the award-winning Errol & Olivia: Ego & Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood and the bestselling Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3, which rose to #2 on the Amazon bestseller list for Biographies, won the 2015 ‘Biography of the Year’ Benjamin Franklin Award, and earned praise from the Smithsonian Institution. His previous print work includes many articles about classic films and starts and the Greenwood Press reference volume, Carole Lombard: A Bio-Biography. He is regularly interviewed by international press, including the New York Post, Hollywood Reporter, and BBC. His work as a filmmaker earned national awards and his feature documentary about George Washington, When the Forest Ran Red, is a genre classic. He has also written and directed several films for NASA.

Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe [GoodKnight Books] is Matzen’s seventh book, set for release on October 24, 2016 – timed to coincide with the December 2016 anniversary of Stewart’s most enduring starring role: George Bailey in the classic holiday film, It’s A Wonderful Life.

About the Author:

Robert Matzen is the author of seven books, including the award-winning Errol & Olivia: Ego & Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood and the bestselling Fireball: Carole Lombard and the...