( CNN ) -- William Holden , Alec Guinness , George C. Scott , Denzel Washington : They all won Academy Awards for roles as heroic military men . But when James Maitland Stewart enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 , he already had a Best Actor Oscar to his name , for his indelible performance as reporter Mike Connor in `` The Philadelphia Story . '' Based in England during much of his service , Jimmy Stewart flew dozens of combat missions -- more than a few as command pilot -- on sorties deep into Nazi-occupied Europe and returned from the war with honors that included the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Service Medal . In September 1945 , LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole accompanied Stewart around his Indiana , Pennsylvania , hometown , chronicling the goings-on when the movie star returned home a hero . Read the full story and see the entire gallery on Life.com .
James Stewart put his career on hold to join the Army Air Forces . The actor was well into his 30s and had already been criticized for being too skinny . He was one of few actors ever to go from private to colonel in five years .