Editing James Stewart (section)

===War career as pilot (1941–1946)===
A licensed civilian pilot, Stewart enlisted in the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] early in 1941, undertaking military flight training and becoming a commissioned officer and USAAF pilot. In January 1944 in the rank of captain, he was assigned to the 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing, Eighth Air Force operating out of East Anglia, England as a bomber pilot flying the [[B-24 Liberator]]. After seeing action in Europe during World War II, he attained the rank of colonel and received several awards for his service. He remained in the Army Air Forces Reserve after the end of World War II, which would become the [[Air Force Reserve]] when the [[U.S. Air Force]] became an independent service in 1947. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve in 1959. He retired from the service in 1968, at which time he was awarded the [[Air Force Distinguished Service Medal]].{{efn|There are several claims that President [[Ronald Reagan]] promoted Stewart to the honorary rank of [[Major general (United States)|major general]] in May 1985 at the same time as awarding his Medal of Freedom, but this is unsupported by evidence, as there was no legislative authorization for such a promotion, the record of the Medal of Freedom presentation at the Reagan Library contains no mention of a promotion,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-medal-freedom-1 |title=Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom &#124; Ronald Reagan |publisher=Reaganlibrary.gov |date=May 23, 1985 |accessdate=July 13, 2022}}</ref> and the video of the presentation contains no promotion.<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgMM2j4xUR0 |title=President Reagan's Remarks at the Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom on May 23, 1985 |publisher=YouTube |date=December 9, 2016 |accessdate=July 13, 2022}}</ref>}} President Reagan recounted at a White House briefing that he was corrected by Stewart himself after Reagan incorrectly announced he was a major general at a campaign event.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1H88fiQuV0IC&dq=jimmy+stewart+%22major+general%22&pg=RA20-PA4 |title=Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents|date=August 2, 1983 |publisher=Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration |accessdate=July 13, 2022}}</ref>