The 80th Anniversary of Glenn Miller's Disappearance

It was eighty years ago today that the plane on which Glenn Miller flew, a single-engine UC-64 Norseman,, disappeared over the English Channel. To this day his disappearance remains a mystery. While there have been plenty of conspiracy theories (none of which are worth considering), given the weather that day and the type of plane in which Major Miller was flying, the most likely explanation is that the fuel intakes simply froze, leading to the plane's crash.

Today many do not realize how huge Glenn Miller was as a musical artist. He had more top ten singles than either Elvis Presley or The Beatles. In 1942 he was making anywhere from $15,000 a week (that would be $301,426.43 today) to $20,000 a week (that would be $401,901.91 today). With the United States' entrance into World War II, Glenn Miller decided that he wanted to serve his country. At 38 he was too old to be drafted and so he volunteered for the U.S. Navy. They told them that they had no need of him. Fortunately the Navy's loss would be the Army's gain. He convinced the United States Army to take him so that he could "...be placed in charge of a modernized Army band."

He entered the Army with the rank of Captain. Eventually he would form the 50-piece Army Air Force Band. He would also be promoted to the rank of Major. It was then in 1944 that Major Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Band were sent to England. There they not only gave several performances, but they also made propaganda recordings for the Office of War Information at Abbey Road Studios in London. Glenn Miller's music would be broadcast on the Armed Forces Network, which used the BBC's facilities. Major Miller's contributions to the war effort should not be underestimated, as they helped the troop's morale as well as countered any German propaganda. No less than General Jimmy Doolittle of the United States Army Air Force told Glenn Miller, "Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller, your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European Theatre of Operations."

To this day Glenn Miller remains remembered for both his music an the sacrifice he made for his country. Here is one of Glenn Miller's biggest hits, his version of "Stairway to the Stars,"