They Meet Again
Mach 3 supersonic bomber, XB-70 Valkyrie
As I was exploring the vast collection of WWII B-17 bomber books available online to history buffs, I was heartened by a joint review of Richard Eager and Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith. The description was the following: "Both are outstanding, Richard Eager... for its sweeping personal narrative and historical depth, Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot for its intimate portrait of a cultural icon at war."
Other distinguished WWII aviation and military memoirs emerge from B-17 searches… A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of combat..., The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle..., Bomber Pilot: A Memoir for World War II, The Bomber Boys: Heroes Who Flew the B-17s in WWII, and The Greatest Generation.
For me the exciting value of this comparison between Colonel Richard Evans and General Jimmy Stewart is that they actually knew each other. They first met when Evans piloted one of the MacDill AFB B-47s that were filmed for the movie Strategic Air Command, released March 25, 1955, starring Jimmy Stewart. The movie was nominated for Best Motion Picture Story. The National Board of Reviews Awards gave a special citation for the aerial photography within the movie.
Mach 3 supersonic bomber, XB-70 Valkyrie
Another time Colonel Evans met with General Stewart was when Jimmy visited the Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, for the official rollout of the Mach 3 supersonic bomber, XB-70 Valkyrie, May 11, 1964. Colonel Evans and General Stewart both had deep background in heavy bomber operations. Jimmy piloted B-24 Liberators and Richard piloted B-17 Flying Fortresses during WWII. Both pilots flew with the Strategic Air Command, and both pilots had a highly technical appreciation for the XB-70's revolutionary "compression lift" and speed. Colonel Evans worked with North America Aviation and was part of the XB-70 Valkyrie team.
I smile to imagine them both in Palmdale — Richard Evans and Jimmy Stewart, standing in the California sunshine, watching the XB-70 roll out. I wonder if they spoke about the old days: the B-17s, the B-24s, the missions, the cold and the fear at altitude. Probably not. Men of that generation rarely did. But they would have understood each other without a word. They had risen through the same crucible, trusted the same instruments, and carried the same weight across the skies of a world at war.
The online algorithms that paired their books was just catching up to something history had already written. Two pilots, two careers that traced the same arc — from the terror of combat missions over Europe to the awe of a Mach 3 bomber gleaming on a California tarmac. Colonel Evans and General Stewart never needed an introduction. The sky had already made them brothers.
Barbara Evans Kinnear
Richard Earnest Evans and Jimmy Stewart with a model of the XB-70 Valkyrie
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