 In 1942, at the
peak of his civilian career, Glenn decided he could better serve
those in uniform by putting one on himself. By doing this, the band
gave up a $20,000 weekly income. Too old to be drafted at age 38,
Glenn first volunteered for the Navy but was told that they didn’t
need his services. Not giving up, Glenn wrote to the Army’s
Brigadier General Charles Young on August 12, 1942. Miller persuaded
the Army to accept him so he could in his own words, "put a little
more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy
into their hearts and to be placed in charge of a modernized army
band." After being accepted in the Army, Glenn’s
civilian band played their last concert in Passaic, New Jersey on
September 27th, 1942. It was such a sad event that the band
couldn’t finish playing the closing theme song, Moonlight
Serenade. |
Glenn soon became part of the Army Specialists Corps with the rank
of captain. For the next year and a half, besides arranging music,
Glenn created and directed his own 50-member band. Captain Miller’s
mission was morale building, bringing a touch of home to the troops
and modernizing military music. Glenn was also a talented fund
raiser, and raised millions of dollars in war bond drives. He also
attracted Air Corps recruits through his I Sustain the Wings
weekly radio broadcasts.
Still wanting to do more, Glenn arranged
for overseas duty for the band. Arriving in London, the band was
quartered at 25 Sloane Street, an area in constant barrage by German
V-1 buzz bombs. Glenn was immediately concerned for the band and
made arrangements for the unit to move to new quarters in Bedford,
England. The band moved on July 2, 1944, and the very next
day a buzz bomb landed in front of their old quarters, destroying
the building and killing 100 people. The Glenn Miller Army Air Force
Band was extremely busy and Glenn wrote home that in one month they
played at 35 different bases, while performing 40 radio broadcasts
in their spare time.
Finally, on December 15, 1944, Glenn
boarded a single engine C-64 Norseman aircraft to travel to Paris,
France where he was to make arrangements for a Christmas broadcast.
Tragically, the plane never reached France and was never found. The
band, without Miller, performed the scheduled Christmas concert
under the direction of Jerry Gray and continued to perform, playing
their last concert on November 13, 1945 at the National Press
Club dinner for President Truman in Washington, D.C. At that time,
General Dwight Eisenhower and General Hap Arnold thanked the band
for a job well done. |
