Remembering Major Alton “Glenn” Miller (1904-1944)

Today's post is by Rachael Salyer, Subject Matter Expert for Modern Military Records at the National Archives in College Park, MD.

On Christmas Eve 1944, news broke that popular musician and band leader Glenn Miller had been reported missing in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). Miller and the Army Air Forces Band (Special) that he led were scheduled for a Christmas Day performance and broadcast from France, and Miller had been ordered to fly from England to France ahead of his unit to assist with final preparations for their move across the Channel. Frustrated with two consecutive days of weather delays, Miller finally boarded a plane with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell and Flight Officer John Stuart Morgan on December 15th. Miller did not report his departure to his commanding officers or let his bandmates know of his plans, and the following morning, the Allied Forces in Europe were surprised by the German attack that began the Battle of the Bulge. Because of this, it was several days before anyone realized that the plane-along with Baessell, Morgan, and Miller-was missing. Since the public already knew that Glenn Miller and the Army Air Forces Band were supposed to perform on Christmas, the Allied commanders quickly informed Miller's wife, Mrs. Helen D. Miller, that her husband was missing before issuing a press release on December 24th (see images 2 and 3). The plane and its occupants were never recovered, and the Army eventually concluded that they all must have perished on December 15 while attempting to fly across the English Channel from Abbotts Ripton to Bordeaux.

Like many celebrities of his era, Glenn Miller joined the U.S. military at the height of his fame, and the National Archives has custody of numerous records that document his career in the Armed Forces. For example, the series Draft Registration Cards for New Jersey, October 16, 1940-March 31, 1947 in Record Group 147: Records of the Selective Service System includes Miller's draft card (see image 4). In addition, Glenn Miller's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) survived the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), and it is now available online in the National Archives Catalog as one of the service records for Persons of Exceptional Prominence (PEP) (see image 5).

Miller's OMPF contains nearly 450 pages of records related to his military service, including his Personnel Placement Questionnaire (War Department, Adjutant General's Office (W.D., A.G.O.) Form No. 0850). This detailed form would have been used to help determine a service member's particular skills in order to place them in an appropriate unit. In response to a question about what fields and in what capacity he considered that he could be of special service to the government, Miller listed musical director, organizer, and musical arranger. When asked if he had ever been rejected for any branch of military service, Miller noted that his application for a commission in the Reserve had been rejected in 1942 because his "qualifications did not warrant appointment to [the] mobilization billet [he] applied to" (see image 6). Miller's Questionnaire reveals that he was a high school graduate and an athlete who played baseball, football, and golf, too. The service records also include morning report locator cards that indicate which units Miller was assigned to, as well as notices of promotion, medical records, correspondence, and other documents that help paint a fuller picture of his service in the Army Air Forces (see images 7 and 8).

NARA also has custody of records that document the loss of the plane and crew Miller was flying with. Starting in late May 1943, the Army Air Forces required that a missing air crew report (MACR) be filed when a crew was lost in combat. During the course of World War II some 16,700 such reports were filed. MACRs usually contain the name, rank and service number of crew members; date, place and circumstances of loss; unit to which the crew was assigned; place of origin of the flight; and some details regarding the aircraft itself. The MACR number for Glenn Miller, Norman Baessell, and John Stuart Morgan is 10770 (see image 9).

On February 9, 1945-less than two months after his disappearance and presumed death-Glenn Miller was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal. The Army Air Forces Award Cards in NARA's custody document both this award and the Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) granted to Miller's unit-the Army Air Forces Band (Special)-for their service from July 1944 through June 1945 (see images 10 and 11).

Beyond this, Miller's service can also be traced in records like the Morning Reports for Army Air Forces units. Before going overseas, for example, Miller served at the Training Station at Yale University with the 2001st Army Air Forces Base Unit (Radio Production) (see image 12).

Although the exact circumstances of Glenn Miller's disappearance and death remain a mystery, documents like the ones outlined above reveal how Miller's civilian musical fame was transformed into a successful military career.