Robert Matzen’s Mission:
Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe is a detailed
account of the beloved actor's
military service in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Stewart was drafted
and chose to serve, pitching his developing love of flying to
serve his country as part of “The Greatest Generation” of
numerous military
veterans who sacrificed time and their lives in various war
theatres around the
world.
Stewart is a favorite actor in this
household, with It’s a
Wonderful Life one of the films
that endears us to him. Our
appreciation
of Stewart and his down-to-earth demeanor led me to want to
review this book. Matzen did not disappoint, going into great detail to highlight
not just
Stewart’s service in the military but bringing attention to
several stories on
the Allied front as they served under him in England and on
several bombing
missions over Europe. Sprinkled in were accounts from the German
front, specifically
highlighting a German Luftwaffe General’s story as the war
unfolded.
Mission
captures Stewart’s guarded, quiet, personality at its core and
how World War II
changed him and so many other men who fought in it. He was
pained by the
battles and the loss of men under his watch, bearing those scars
for the
duration of his life. Mission
spends
little of its pages devoted to Stewart’s years after World War
II but does a
great job of capturing the essence of Stewart and how he treated
those under
his command with the same respect and decency that would have
made Mr. Smith proud
in Washington.
MY RATING - 4
