Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 10

Rob Riggle Doubts Today's Stars Would Match Jimmy Stewart's 20-Mission WWII Service

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 10

Rob Riggle Doubts Today's Stars Would Match Jimmy Stewart's 20-Mission WWII Service

Q: What chilling secrets were hidden in Jimmy Stewart’s wartime diary that he refused to share with his family?

Jimmy Stewart’s diary did not reveal a sensational hidden plot; it exposed the private emotional toll of war that he largely kept from his family. According to his daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, the diary and his wartime flight log recorded his fear, the missions he flew, and the planes that failed to return. The most haunting details were his notes about lost aircraft and lost men. Stewart marked which bombers never came back, and his daughter said those losses deeply affected him. She recalled that he “hated it when planes didn’t come back,” showing how personally he carried the deaths of crew members under his command. The diary also contained stark language about the war itself. One line that stayed with his family was Stewart referring to it as a “dirty, stinking war,” a phrase that underscored his disgust and trauma rather than any romantic view of combat. Kelly Stewart-Harcourt also said the diary showed how much he wanted to make his father proud, suggesting that family expectation helped drive his insistence on active combat service. What Stewart refused to share openly at home was not operational secrecy so much as psychological pain. He rarely discussed the war with his children, even though he reportedly suffered nightmares and other symptoms now associated with PTSD for years afterward. In that sense, the diary’s “secrets” were his fear, grief, survivor’s burden and unresolved trauma.

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 10

Rob Riggle, 56, said he would be surprised if any modern actor with Jimmy Stewart’s stature would leave an Oscar-winning career to enlist and seek combat duty.
Stewart joined the Army Air Corps in March 1941, 28 days after winning best actor, pushed past an initial rejection, and eventually flew 20 combat missions over Europe after insisting on overseas service.
Riggle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who plays Stewart’s commander in the biopic “Jimmy,” said his own 23 years of service helped him understand the burden of leading men into danger.
The film stars KJ Apa as Stewart and centers on how wartime trauma shaped his postwar life and performances, including “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as Riggle argues younger audiences know too little about Stewart’s military record.

Sources

Fox News22h ago

Rob Riggle Doubts Modern Stars Would Match Jimmy Stewart's WWII Sacrifice

What chilling secrets were hidden in Jimmy Stewart’s wartime diary that he refused to share with his family?

Why did an Oscar winner abandon fame for deadly combat, and could any modern star make that same sacrifice?

How did a Hollywood legend’s secret wartime trauma secretly inspire one of cinema's most iconic performances?

Sources

1 total

Fox News22h ago

Rob Riggle Doubts Modern Stars Would Match Jimmy Stewart's WWII Sacrifice

Rob Riggle Doubts Today's Stars Would Match Jimmy Stewart's 20-Mission WWII Service

Summary

Sources

Insights

Sources