Mission

Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

By: Robert Matzen, Leonard Maltin - foreward

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

In March 1941 Jimmy Stewart, America's boy next door and recent Academy Award winner, left fame and fortune behind and joined the United States Army Air Corps to fulfill his family mission and serve his country. He rose from private to colonel and participated in 20 often-brutal World War II combat missions over Germany and France. In mere months the war took away his boyish looks as he faced near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future, suffering what we now know as PTSD. Younger stars like Gregory Peck were now getting roles that might have been Stewart's, and he didn't know if he would ever work in Hollywood again. Then came 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, his return to Hollywood, and the changed man who embarked on production of America's most beloved holiday classic.

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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2016 Robert Matzen (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

It’s a wonderful life

Jimmy Stewart is every bit a hero in real life as he always portrayed on the screen. A real champion of truth justice and the American way. Plus retiring a brigadier general in the Air Force. Certainly a hard act to follow.

Truly was a Wonderful Life!

This was not a true biography-type book, as it was primarily the story of James Stewart's personal experiences during a troubled time- WW2. Yet, to give us a more complete understanding of the "why's, how's, and wherefore's of the story, the author had to bring in the Ancestral, Familial, Childhood, Religious and other influences that carried him through so heroically. Excellent read!

An admirable man and one of my favorite actors.

A good listen about something that Jimmy obviously didn't want to advertise. I did think the author spent way too much time on who he was dicking and how well he was endowed... lol
You can really see how much the war aged and wore him down when you watch wonderful life in comparison to his work just before the war.

Great listen

this is a very compelling story, it kept me enraptured. I really enjoyed the narrator

Awesome Book

loved the book. it went into a ton of details of combat in a B24