Jimmy Stewart’s Suicidal Secret — And The Star Who Saved Him
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Guilt-ridden screen legend Jimmy Stewart contemplated suicide after bombing civilians as a World War 2 pilot — and it took his best pal Henry Fonda to help him recover from the crippling depression!
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“Both men saw action in the war — Jimmy as a B-24 pilot dropping bombs in Europe, and Henry on a ship that was hit by a Japanese ‘kamikaze’ plane in the Pacific,” an insider told The National ENQUIRER. “Both endured severe trauma. But Henry was able to shrug off his war experiences better than Jimmy, who suffered great guilt over having killed civilians from high above.”
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Henry and Jimmy were both already Hollywood stars when the U.S. declared war on Germany and Japan in 1941. Jimmy was drafted in 1941, and inducted into the Army Air Corps. Henry enlisted in the Navy in 1942, insisting he “must do his duty” like all other citizens. Jimmy, who died at the age of 89 in 1997, served with the 703rd Squadron of the 445th B-24 bomber group, and was sent to England, eventually flying missions over Germany and France.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
Henry and Jimmy were both already Hollywood stars when the U.S. declared war on Germany and Japan in 1941. Jimmy was drafted in 1941, and inducted into the Army Air Corps. Henry enlisted in the Navy in 1942, insisting he “must do his duty” like all other citizens. Jimmy, who died at the age of 89 in 1997, served with the 703rd Squadron of the 445th B-24 bomber group, and was sent to England, eventually flying missions over Germany and France.
As the war raged on, Jimmy lost more and more men and planes from his group as they flew missions over Germany — and he became consumed with guilt after mistakenly dropping bombs on the French village of Tonnerre when his cockpit instruments malfunctioned. Knowing that he’d killed innocent French civilians and enduring the deaths of his comrades began to pay a serious toll on his conscience.
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That guilt, combined with the terror Jimmy endured in the skies, made him so “flak happy” that he was sent into psychiatric treatment. “Every decision he made was going to preserve life or cost lives,” said author Robert Matzen, who wrote “Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe.” “He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”
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Henry, meanwhile, served on a seaplane tender during the Pacific battle off Saipan. While on leave on Guam on June 21, 1945, his ship was hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa, and 14 of his shipmates were killed and another 28 were wounded. The actor, who went on to play Naval officers in three films, returned to Hollywood and picked up his life with little effort. But when Henry and Jimmy teamed up for “On Our Merry Way” in 1948, the two war veterans opened up to each other.
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Henry, who died at age 77 in 1982, was able to convince his still-traumatized pal that he only did what he had to do. “Jimmy was still so shaken that he confessed to Henry that at times he had considered suicide,” the insider says. “But Henry told Jimmy that while some civilians died, many, many more lived because of the sacrifices he and his men made. That helped ease Jimmy’s mind a great deal!”
Guilt-ridden screen legend Jimmy Stewart contemplated suicide after bombing civilians as a World War 2 pilot — and it took his best pal Henry Fonda to help him recover from the crippling depression!
Photo credit: Getty Images
“Both men saw action in the war — Jimmy as a B-24 pilot dropping bombs in Europe, and Henry on a ship that was hit by a Japanese ‘kamikaze’ plane in the Pacific,” an insider told The National ENQUIRER. “Both endured severe trauma. But Henry was able to shrug off his war experiences better than Jimmy, who suffered great guilt over having killed civilians from high above.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Henry and Jimmy were both already Hollywood stars when the U.S. declared war on Germany and Japan in 1941. Jimmy was drafted in 1941, and inducted into the Army Air Corps. Henry enlisted in the Navy in 1942, insisting he “must do his duty” like all other citizens. Jimmy, who died at the age of 89 in 1997, served with the 703rd Squadron of the 445th B-24 bomber group, and was sent to England, eventually flying missions over Germany and France.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Henry and Jimmy were both already Hollywood stars when the U.S. declared war on Germany and Japan in 1941. Jimmy was drafted in 1941, and inducted into the Army Air Corps. Henry enlisted in the Navy in 1942, insisting he “must do his duty” like all other citizens. Jimmy, who died at the age of 89 in 1997, served with the 703rd Squadron of the 445th B-24 bomber group, and was sent to England, eventually flying missions over Germany and France.
As the war raged on, Jimmy lost more and more men and planes from his group as they flew missions over Germany — and he became consumed with guilt after mistakenly dropping bombs on the French village of Tonnerre when his cockpit instruments malfunctioned. Knowing that he’d killed innocent French civilians and enduring the deaths of his comrades began to pay a serious toll on his conscience.
Photo credit: Getty Images
That guilt, combined with the terror Jimmy endured in the skies, made him so “flak happy” that he was sent into psychiatric treatment. “Every decision he made was going to preserve life or cost lives,” said author Robert Matzen, who wrote “Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe.” “He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Henry, meanwhile, served on a seaplane tender during the Pacific battle off Saipan. While on leave on Guam on June 21, 1945, his ship was hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa, and 14 of his shipmates were killed and another 28 were wounded. The actor, who went on to play Naval officers in three films, returned to Hollywood and picked up his life with little effort. But when Henry and Jimmy teamed up for “On Our Merry Way” in 1948, the two war veterans opened up to each other.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Henry, who died at age 77 in 1982, was able to convince his still-traumatized pal that he only did what he had to do. “Jimmy was still so shaken that he confessed to Henry that at times he had considered suicide,” the insider says. “But Henry told Jimmy that while some civilians died, many, many more lived because of the sacrifices he and his men made. That helped ease Jimmy’s mind a great deal!”
Photo credit: Getty Images
