A while back I read a book about the life of James Stewart entitled Bomber Pilot. Needles to say the book focused mostly on Stewarts service in WWII as... you guessed it... a bomber pilot. Think about this for a minute.
Who was James Stewart? Before WWII and after he was a fairly popular movie star, made several films, lived in Beverly Hills and all that. By todays standards what would we expect from a popular male movie star when a war started? I don't have any quotes so I won't try to put words into any persons mouth but I would imagine that a celebrity of today would not have acted in any way like James Stewart did, a celebrity of the past.
At this time in history, around 1940, our country had implemented the Selective Service Bill or the "Draft". Being a male between the ages of 20 and 36 James Stewart was given a draft number. When his number was called he reported and due to a lack of weight was not elegable to join the army. I would imagine that if for some reason this same set of circumstances happened to a celebrity today they would go home and forget about it. They would most likely keep making movies and living their life not worrying about the war. I bet they would have been happy to have escaped the clutches of war service. Mr. Stewart however went home and ate all the food he could over the next couple days and went back to enlist in the army air corps. That right there shows some real patriotism. Instead of accepting an easy verdict of being to light for service in the army he did something about it and made it into the air corps to serve the country. He actually wanted to serve his country. We all look up to celebrities, I think we need some celebrities like Stewart who once said," It may sound corny, but what is wrong with wanting to fight for your country. Why are people so reluctant to use the word patriotism?"
I admire this man for his patriotism and willingness to serve his country in a time of need despite all the reasons he had not to. He is a great example of how a patriot acts.
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