On this day

A nice piece on Glenn Miller. From Major Glenn Miller, US Army Air Forces by Kali Martin. Miller died on this day in December 1944, serving his country and his fellow Americans.

Glenn Miller, standing, playing the trombone.
Double click to enlarge.

In the summer of 1942, despite several radio contracts renewing and new opportunities coming his way, Miller applied for a US Navy commission. The navy rejected his application. Undeterred, Miller quickly offered his services to the US Army, which was all too happy to offer him a commission. During a rehearsal for the Chesterfield program, Miller asked that everyone but the band leave the studio. He had news: Miller was breaking up his band to accept a commission in the US Army. America’s favorite band leader was to become Captain Glenn Miller, US Army.

Reporting for duty on October 7, 1942, Miller received his formal commission as captain in November, was transferred from the US Army to the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), and assigned to Maxwell Field, Alabama. By 1943, Miller was named the Director of Bands, Training, for the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command and moved to the USAAF Basic Training Station #2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. As Director of Bands, Miller began to recruit. Any civilian who wanted to play for him in the Army Air Forces simply had to write him a letter of intent and give him details on their skills. Upon enlistment, Miller could request almost any man he wanted and have them pulled into his unit. Several of the musicians who had played with Miller in civilian life followed him into uniform and joined his band again.

[snip]

Appearances by the band at bond drives easily netted upwards of four-million dollars in pledges in a single night. Although Miller had joined the Army Air Forces and created a new band, he remained as popular as ever with the civilian population. But Miller was not satisfied; He wanted to play in person for troops overseas.

Fortunately for Miller, Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight Eisenhower had already put the wheels in motion to get Miller to the European theater. In 1943, Eisenhower ordered a radio network to be put together for the entertainment of troops awaiting further deployment in England. There was much about life in Britain that American GIs found strange, and the radio broadcasts by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were at the top of that list. They craved familiar songs from home, American news, and American sports in familiar accents with comedy that they understood. The American Forces Network (AFN) was born out of a need to improve morale, and it went live in the summer of 1943. Filled with familiar news and music from home, it had an instant effect, improving morale. Eisenhower was pleased, but wanted more.

He wanted Captain Glenn Miller.