🌜Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller, Big Band Conductor, Trombone

[appalachiablue]

- Moonlight Serenade, 1939.🌛

- Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – Dec. 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forces. His civilian band, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, was one of the most popular and successful bands of the 20th century and the big-band era.

Glenn Miller and his Orchestra was the best-selling recording band from 1939 to 1942. Unlike his military unit, Miller's civilian band did not have a string section, but it did have a stand-up bass in the rhythm section. It was also a touring band that played multiple radio broadcasts nearly every day. Its best-selling records include Miller's theme song, "Moonlight Serenade", and the first gold record ever made, "Chattanooga Choo Choo", a song on the soundtrack of Miller's first film, Sun Valley Serenade, and the number-one song in the U. S. on Dec. 7, 1941.

In 1942, he volunteered to join the US military. He entertained troops during World War II and ended up in the US Army Air Forces. Their workload was just as heavy as the civilian band's had been. With a full string section added to a big band, the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra was the forerunner of many US military big bands.

Miller went missing in action (MIA) on Dec. 15, 1944, on a flight over the English Channel from England to France. In keeping with standard operating procedure for the US military services, he was officially declared dead a year and a day later. An Army investigation led to an official finding of death (FOD) for Miller, Norman Baessell, and John Morgan, all of whom died on the same flight. All three officers are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, England...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Miller

[synni]

1. I had no idea that he was MIA

[appalachiablue]

2. It's tragic. Here's info on the American Cemetery in Cambridge. Thanks for posting.

- Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II American military war grave cemetery, lying between the villages of Coton and Madingley, 7 km (4.3 mi) north-west of Cambridge, England.
The cemetery, dedicated in 1956, contains 3,811 American war dead and covers 30.5 acres (12.3 ha). It is one of 26 overseas military cemeteries administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial