Wow I didn't know about him flying a multi-colored unarmed plane into combat.

That was a great article. I have only gotten snippets before, but this one had a lot of information.

This part was news to me:
After he was discharged from the Army Air Forces on September 29, 1945, Stewart was immediately appointed to colonel in the U.S. Army Air Forces Reserve. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1959 and retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1968. But, before retiring, the decorated officer had one last mission:



After Stewart's death in 1997, Air Power History published a memoriam that included this little-known item: "In 1966, during his annual two weeks of active duty, Stewart requested a combat assignment and participated in a bombing strike over Vietnam. Stewart's stepson, 1st Lt. Ronald McLean, was killed at age 24 in the Vietnam War.



-Steve G.