Twelve O’Clock High and Wyler’s The Best Years of Their Lives, along with Memphis Belle were my favorite Army Air Force movies. Wyler actually flew as a civilian film maker in the bombers which had a loss rate of 1 in 4 at that time. The scene in which Dean Jagger comes home from the war and is walking across the field to his home is powerful.
Reading about Stewart’s nervous breakdown immediately brought “12 O’Clock High” to mind. That’s my all-time favorite movie about leadership, command and sacrifice. Nothing else comes close.