Jimmy Stewart suffered such extreme PTSD after he lost 130 of his men as a fighter pilot in WW II that he acted out his anguish during filming of It’s a Wonderful Life

• Actor Jimmy Stewart was haunted by his memories from his time in the Air Force and suffered from PTSD when he returned from World War II
• Stewart wrestled with the guilt of killing civilians in bomb raids over France and Germany and felt responsible for the death of his comrades
• Stewart never talked about his struggles and bottled up his emotions
• But they came out when acting parts he chose when he returned to Hollywood
• He tapped into his emotional distress during filming of  It's a Wonderful Life, where his character George Bailey unravels in front of his family
• Stewart's anguish is laid bare for the first time in Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the fight for Europe by author Robert Matzen

Jimmy Stewart suffered such extreme PTSD after being a fighter pilot in World War II that he acted out his mental distress during 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Stewart played George Bailey in the classic movie and channeled his anger and guilt into the scenes where he rages at his family.  Stewart was haunted by 'a thousand black memories' from his time as an Air Force commanding officer that he took with him back to Hollywood after the war.  Pilots who flew with him said that became 'Flak Happy' during World War II, a term to describe what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Stewart wrestled with the guilt of killing civilians in bomb raids over France and Germany including one instance where they destroyed the wrong city by mistake.

 Before entering the military, Stewart earned his commercial pilot license so that he could join the Air Force. Pictured above, a base intelligence officer shows Captain Stewart (right) maps before he begins a mission in WWII

 Stewart suffered such extreme PTSD from WWII that he acted out his mental distress during 'It's a Wonderful Life'

 He would would channel his PTSD while filming scenes for the film, including the above scene on the bridge

Stewart felt responsible for the death of his men and especially one bloodbath where he lost 13 planes containing 130 men who he knew well. Stewart's anguish is laid bare for the first time in author Robert Matzen's Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the fight for Europe, published by Paladin Communications. Stewart never spoke  about it, even to other veterans, and bottled up his emotions that came out in the acting parts he chose when he returned to Hollywood.