Comments: Elvis: The (Very) Early Years
dark circles around the eyes
purple lips and nails
90 cents of every dollar earned was stolen from him
he was in my army unit at Wildflecken Germany
Posted by ghostsniper at March 29, 2017 4:53 AM
When his turn came, he did his duty. That makes him a one percenter among celebrities.
Posted by billH at March 29, 2017 9:38 AM
Most did back then Bill, not so much today.
Did you know the actor James Stewart was a high ranking officer, maybe a general?
Posted by ghostsniper at March 29, 2017 9:40 AM
Stewart flew a 24 over Ploiești on Black Sunday, the second most lethal mission of the war for the air crews. Stewart's experience left him cold to his old business after the war until Frank Capra lured him out of retirement with a movie no one saw at the time. My good USAF friend saw Stewart at an AF get together where he was asked to speak of Ploiesti, and he was unable.
Posted by james wilson at March 29, 2017 10:49 AM
I am not surprised that Stewart could not speak about Ploesti. Every soul reading here needs to seek out the books written about Ploesti.
Posted by anonymous at March 29, 2017 11:24 AM
Never heard of it but by nights end I will be up to speed, thanks.
Posted by ghostsniper at March 29, 2017 6:21 PM
On this wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave , it states the bombing raid initiated from Benghazi on 01 Aug 1943.
On this wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart , it states (Captain James Stewart's) group flew its first combat mission on December 13, 1943, to bomb the U-boat facilities at Kiel, Germany, followed three days later by a mission to Bremen.
Prior to that mission Captain Stewart's entire enlistment had been stateside. He could not have been involved with the Ploiesti bombing.
Anybody have links to show otherwise, I'd like to see them.
Stewart did however lead a bombing mission in Jan 1944 at Ludwigshafen Germany a place I did TDY service in 1977, a mere 33 years later.
Posted by ghostsniper at March 29, 2017 7:25 PM
Well I had posted a longer reply with links and quotes but it didn't show up. sigh
James Stewart was not involved in the Ploesti incident and the answer/reasons can be found on wiki. Basically, he wasn't qualified to fly the liberators in combat at the time of that mission and was stationed stateside.
I must say though, while active duty he was transferred to more units than I had ever heard of before. Seems he didn't stay in 1 place more than about 3 months.
Posted by ghostsniper at March 30, 2017 10:02 AM