Classic Bike Ramblings The Famous.......The Unknowns and The American Soldier Theres a pre Veterans Day military tribute bike event coming up on Sat Nov. 5th that im really looking forward to being a part of and in helping out with. It will include a police and fire department escorted ride to the Bay Pines Military Cemetery and a USCG C-130 flyover and many veterans and special guests and I think that this event to me captures the spirit of what Veterans Day is about which is supporting our troops past and present. November 11th Veterans Day, a day to honor military veterans here in America it is also known elsewhere in the world as Armistice Day or Rememberance Day. This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I and it marks the end of major hostilities which formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when Germany signed its surrender. Troy Musser at Biff Burgers has come up with another great chairitable idea in conjunction with Operation American Pride. He will be doing the first ever large scale ride beginning and ending at Biffs with over 2000 bikes expected and my friends I am proud to be a part of it as it will all go towards giving military families a better and more wonderful christmas. Both Troy and I are big supporters of the U.S. Military and their families and understand their hardships and also that so many in our biking community our currently serving or have served. Many in the military serve in obscurity simply "just doing their job" they are not serving to be heroes although they all are in my book. Coming from all walks of life and social and economic backgrounds all just doing their part for our freedom. And you know my friends there are some famous people who have walked away from their careers, from their fame and many wanted to be "just soldiers" and I have chosen two that you may know or may not know for even though they served the country proudly as so many citizens have chosen to do, they have never made a big deal out of their service, like so many we meet in our daily life they served and went on with their lives. So my readers of history I give you James Maitland Stewart born in Indiana, Pennsylvania on May 20th. 1908, nominated for five academy awards (winning one). Seven decades of amazing films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Harvey
and the Christmas classic Its a Wonderful Life and of course the Alfred Hitchcock classics Mr 500 And Jon Barrow Rear Window and Vertigo. Ten of his films have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry. Named the third greatest male star of all time by the American Film Institute ( #1 Humphrey Bogart, #2 Cary Grant). He is remembered for a wide range of diverse roles including westerns ,suspense thrillers, family films and even off beat comedies. But what many people do not know and a fact that Jimmy Stewart never made a big deal out of, was his storied career in the U.S. military. Mr. Stewart would win his " Best Actor" academy award in 1941 for the romantic comedy "Philadelphia Story" and with 28 films to his credit our movie star would be drafted in late 1940. Jimmy Stewart's family had longstanding ties to the military as both his grandfathers had fought in the Civil War and his father had served in the Spanish-American War and World War I, Stewart had always thought that his father was the one biggest influence on his life, so when World war II broke out he was ready to serve and sought no deferment when drafted as he had already planned to enlist. Though all his family had served in the infantry he wanted to be a flyer. He always had a keen interest in flying and had received his Private Pilot Certificate in 1935 and his Commercial Pilot Rating in 1938. Flying Cross Country from movie locations to his parents home in Pennsylvania he would log in over 400 hours of flying time by the day of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He was thought of in aviation circles of the time as a very capable pilot even racing airplanes in 1935. He and famed musician Hoagy Carmichael both invested in Thunderbird Field a pilot training school built and operated by Southwest Airlines in Glendale, Arizona after it was clear to them both that America would need many new pilots for the almost certain war looming on Americas horizon. The airfield would later become part of the United States Army Air Force and train over 10,000 new pilots during World War II. Well, back to the year 1940 my friends when Mr. Stewart would be drafted into the United States Army but would be rejected for failure to meet height/weight requirments. He was five pounds under the 148 lb. minimum