Jimmy Stewart's brave service in World War II was truly remarkable

Robert Matzen, author of the new biography "Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe," joins Glenn Beck to reveal some surprising facts about the silver screen star's service as an Army bomber pilot in World War II.

As Robert points out, the War Department and notable Hollywood figures resisted Stewart's active participation in the war due to his celebrity status, but Stewart overcame these objections after two years of campaigning, rose to the level of squadron commander of a heavy bomber group, and flew twenty missions over Germany and France.

Upon his return, Stewart exhibited signs of what would later be identified as PTSD and refused to discuss the details of his involvement in the war, taking those secrets to the grave with him.

Pat Gray offers glowing praise of the "It's a Wonderful Life" star: "This guy was almost too good to be true, wasn't he? I mean, an American patriot, an American hero, a tremendous actor, married to the same woman virtually his whole life, right? No major scandals that we know of."

Glenn shares Pat's affection for Stewart, but he worries that Robert's book will reveal a darker side of the matinee idol. Robert settles Glenn's fears, however.

"I'm not going to wreck him for you," Robert says. "I went into this project neutral on the guy. I mean, not a fan, per se. ... But I grew to admire him tremendously through learning about the twenty combat missions that he went through and what he was like when he came back, you know, refusing to talk about what it was like over there."

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze  and listen live to “The Glenn Beck Radio Program” with Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeff Fisher weekdays 9am–12pm ET on TheBlaze Radio Network.