Like all WWII enlistees, Jimmy Stewart would have been greeted by a Gideon and given a small book containing the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs that he could put inside his uniform’s front shirt pocket.

On March 22, 1941, Jimmy Stewart became a private in the U.S. Army.

When his draft number had been called in February, his bosses at MGM told him they could arrange a deferment for him. Jimmy turned down their offer and reported to the West Los Angeles Draft Board for his physical. He flunked it because at 6’3” and 138 pounds he was five pounds under the weight requirement.

For the next few weeks, he kept stuffing himself, and found a friendly neighborhood recruiter who let him enlist even though he was still an ounce or two shy.

At the time, Jimmy Stewart was 32 years-old with a degree in architecture from Princeton. He had been nominated for Best Actor in 1939 for “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, and he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1940 for his role in “The Philadelphia Story”. He didn’t need to enlist.

The catastrophe of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was still nine months in the future, but Stewart saw the war clouds gathering and he was not content to simply watch and wait out the storm.

Like all WWII enlistees, Jimmy Stewart would have been greeted by a Gideon and given a small book containing the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs that he could put inside his uniform’s front shirt pocket.

The inside page had a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, stating:

As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul.

Jimmy already had his private pilot’s license, and while he was stationed at Fort McArthur, he paid for the additional flight hours he needed to qualify for military flight school. The Army Air Corps wanted him as a recruiting tool, he wanted to fly in combat.

In November of 1943, Capt. Jimmy Stewart finally arrived in England and began his career as a bomber pilot, tallying up 20 combat missions.

Stewart’s father, a World War I combat veteran, gave him a note to read when he shipped out. The note said:

My dear Jim-Boy, soon after you read this letter, you will be on your way to the worst of danger. Jim, I am banking on the enclosed copy of the 91st Psalm. The thing that takes the place of fear and worry is the promise of these words. I feel sure that God will lead you through this mad experience. I can say no more. I only continue to pray. Goodbye, my dear. God continue to bless and keep you. I love you more than I can tell you. Dad

Psalm 91 is a lengthy recital of God’s promised protections for the man who can declare: “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

At war’s end Jimmy returned home as Col. Stewart and unharmed. Commenting upon the protection of Psalm 91, he said, “What a promise for an airman. I placed in His hands the squadron I would be leading. And, as the psalmist promised, I felt myself borne up.”

Mike Sharman, a resident of Foothills of Faith Farm in Madison County, Virginia, has served as an attorney and guardian for children for more than two decades. Mike writes a weekly editorial column published by the Culpeper Star-Exponent and others, and has written Faith of the Fathers: Religion and Matters of Faith Contained in the Presidents’ Inaugural Addresses from George Washington to George W. Bush. He also has a work in progress, to be entitled Endowed By Our Creator: Documentary Evidence of Our Christian Heritage. You may contact him at [email protected]