"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

He did not enlist. He appealed his rejection to the draft board, and
was accepted.

A number of unofficial web cites snipped stating he enlisted

In response, I direct you to the Air Force Museum site, which should
know, where they state:

"On Mar. 22, 1941, Jimmy Stewart was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces.
He was assigned to the Army Air Corps as an enlisted man and stationed
at Moffett Field, Cal. "

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/wwii/js.htm

.... and from another biography written by an Air Force historian:

"Stewart, who was born May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Penn., was drafted into
the U.S. Armed Forces on March 22, 1941."

http://www.altus.af.mil/PA/patriot/a.../11jul974.html

It appears that in the eyes of the Military, he was drafted, since the
paperwork was organized around an induction, and not enlistment.

Interestingly, the Jimmy Stewart Museum site, which was also quoted as
saying he enlisted, has this description of his induction into the Army
in his obituary. Note that it says he joined through the action of the
local draft board, hence the reason he was considered as being drafted:

"Stewart's draft number was 310. When his number was called and he
appeared at his draft board - No. 245 in West Los Angeles - in February
1941, he weighed only 138 pounds, five pounds under the acceptable
weight level, but he was able to convince his draft board to accept him.
While others tried to avoid the draft, he actually cheated to get into
the military. Later, he would actually campaign to see combat."

http://www.jimmy.org/memories/passing.html