Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944)
General James Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF), hero of the daring “Doolittle Raid” on mainland Japan
and later the unified commander of Allied air forces in Europe
in World War II, offered the following high praise to one of his
staff officers in 1944: “Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller,
your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European
Theater of Operations.”
The Captain Miller in question was the trombonist and bandleader
Glenn Miller, the biggest star on the American pop-music scene
in the years immediately preceding World War II and a man who
set aside his brilliant career right at its peak in 1942 to serve his
country as leader of the USAAF dance band.
It was in that capacity that Captain Glenn Miller boarded a single-
engine aircraft (like below) at an airfield outside of London on
December 15, 1944—an aircraft that would go missing over the
English Channel en route to France for a congratulatory
performance for American troops that had recently helped to
liberate Paris.
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