By the time this photo reached “Aunt Olga & Uncle Fred” back in his home state of Iowa, Private James Stewart had completed aerial gunner training at Harlingen, Texas, and was now at Keeseler Field in Mississippi for the next phase of his training, that of aircraft mechanic. Upon graduation from Keesler, newly promoted Sergeant Stewart was off to RAF Sudbury in Suffolk, Great Britain, where he served as a B-17 flight engineer with the 833rd Bomb Squadron, 486th Bomb Group. He flew his missions, survived running gun battles with the Luftwaffe, got blasted by flak batteries, and eventually returned home to Iowa.
Stewart did all these things while still a teenager.
The Jive Bomber 