Preston

[Preston @toolprez]

@brianhoyt24 @KevinMcAlpin @IngramRadio @FrontOfficeLos @YouTube Still the best bit on radio ever. Tears in my eyes laughing listening to it.

[Preston @toolprez]

@SwiftOnSecurity Thought that was milk and was honestly frightened.

[Preston @toolprez]

@Super70sSports @chrisdimino this might be an all time bar bet stat

[Preston @toolprez]

@grantmcauley Heaven

[FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX]

RIP James Earl Jones 🙏

[Preston @toolprez]

@alexlindsay Working surprisingly well. One of the first “I get it” moments outside Apple’s Immersive video series for me.

[Judianna @Judianna]

For all the fans of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Jimmy Stewart . . .

Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in “The Philadelphia Story,” Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.

An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.

Stewart, however, wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.

Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.

In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being “flak happy,” today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).

He was depressed, couldn’t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.

As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”

In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The rest is history.

Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn’t acting. His PTSD was being captured on film for potentially millions to see.

But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.

When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.”
This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” it’s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!

Postscript:

While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father’s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.

Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
H/T @mustangmarine

[Jack Carr @JackCarrUSA]

So saddened to learn of Cliff Stump’s passing.

In early June of 1944, Cliff descended out of the darkness in a glider to land behind enemy lines in Normandy, France. He was Company E, 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne. Cliff would go on to fight through D-Day and on to Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, and the Central Europe Campaign in Germany. On Tuesday, May 8th, 1945, Cliff was in Berlin – the day of Germany’s unconditional surrender - Victory in Europe, V-E Day.

My daughter and I were fortunate enough to spend time with Cliff in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December 2021 and in Normandy, France in June 2022 as volunteers with the @bestdefense_ Battlefield Return Program. I remember asking him if his glider landing on D-Day in Normandy felt like a crash. He smiled and responded without missing a beat, “son, it WAS a crash!”

Rest easy, Cliff. We have the watch.

[Preston @toolprez]

@BarrettSallee @IngramRadio @BravesRadioNet @680TheFan Thanks really slick

[Ed Werder @WerderEdNFL]

“Hey, son, this is Dad. You want to come to work with me next week?”

[Aviation @xAviation]

Falcon 9 launch view from cockpit at FL340 ✈️

📸 Edgardo German

[Happy Hoyt @brianhoyt24]

Sal never had a 4-5-2-5-1 double play. @IngramRadio

[Jared Carrabis @Jared_Carrabis]

This slide was about as perfect as it gets.

[Braves On FanDuel Sports Network @FanDuelSNBraves]

Ronald Acuña Jr. is unreal 🔥

Watch this.

[Haiku Jonah @HaikuJonah]

Connie Mack was born during the Civil War. He played his first season in 1886.

These two men, who overlapped for 1 year in 1950, cover nearly the entire history of professional baseball.

What a life. Thanks for everything, Vin. (2/2)

[Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 @BarrettSallee]

Two out RBI get you into Heaven. #ForTheA

[Atlanta Braves @Braves]

.@austinriley1308's game-winning hit sets a new record for most extra-base hits in a month in #Braves history (26), passing Hank Aaron (25).

[Abraham Ash / 𐤀𐤁𐤓𐤄𐤌 @Historycourses]

This will always remain my favorite Calvin and Hobbes comic

[ESPN Insights @ESPNInsights]

Bill Russell is the only player in NBA history to play in at least 10 Game 7's, and not lose a single one.

Russell amassed 293 rebounds in Game 7’s (29.3 RPG), most all-time...that's 50 MORE rebounds than his rival Wilt Chamberlain, who played in only 1 less Game 7.

[Super 70s Sports @Super70sSports]

Number of times Pedro Martinez faced Tony Gwynn: 36

Number of times Pedro Martinez struck Tony Gwynn out: ZERO

Number of times Greg Maddux faced Tony Gwynn: 107

Number of times Greg Maddux struck Tony Gwynn out: ZERO