6. Stewart joined the US Army Air Corps nearly a year before Pearl Harbor
James Stewart came from a family which had served in the American military for generations. His ancestors fought in the American Civil War, and his father was a veteran of the American war with Spain, and the American Expeditionary Force of World War One. Stewart eyed the situation in Europe and Asia warily, and in November 1940, he attempted to enlist in the US Army. The Army found him too thin for their taste. Three months later Stewart tried again, stressing his experience as an amateur pilot, and the many hours he had logged in the air. In February the Army accepted him, and he was enlisted as a private and assigned to the Air Corps, though he was at the time nearly 33 years old.
Because he was over the age limit for Cadet training Stewart relied on his degree from Princeton and his license as a commercial aviation pilot to apply for a commission in the Army Air Corps. On New Year’s Day, 1942, he received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant, United States Army Air Corps. Throughout 1941 Stewart made appearances for the benefit of the Army. He made no additional films, other than those made by the Army for recruiting and training purposes. His contract with MGM was temporarily suspended. In summer 1942, he was ordered to report to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help train new pilots. Stewart believed that he was destined to spend the war using his celebrity to boost Army Air Corps recruiting, and he balked at the idea.