Editing Glenn Miller (section)

==Death==
[[File:Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman.jpg|thumb|right|US Army Air Force UC-64]]
[[File:ANC-Site-MillerMarker.jpg|thumb|Miller's memorial headstone at Arlington National Cemetery]]
The AAF band completed their pre-recordings and regular broadcasts on Tuesday, December 12, 1944, and prepared for the anticipated move to France. As per Niven's order, Miller was booked on a scheduled Air Transport Command passenger flight from London-Bovingdon to Paris-Orly on Thursday, December 14.<ref name=":5" />

Miller was on standby for an earlier flight on December 13, but it was canceled due to bad weather in France. His reservation on December 14 was also canceled. Miller was frustrated and impatient, fearing that arrangements would not be made in time to accommodate the movement of his unit to France. On a telephone call to Haynes, he learned that a mutual acquaintance, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell of the Eighth Air Force Service Command at Milton Ernest, was flying to France on December 15. It was to be aboard a [[Noorduyn Norseman|Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman]] assigned to him and piloted by Flight Officer John Stuart Morgan. Baessell invited Miller to join them.<ref name=":5" />

Miller's travel orders did not authorize him to board a "casual" flight and he did not report his intentions to his chain of command, so [[SHAEF]] was in the dark concerning Miller's whereabouts. Although AAF and RAF combat missions flew that day, as well as numerous transport planes, the RAF Training Unit at [[RAF Twinwood Farm]], near [[Bedford]], had stood down, but the aerodrome was open. At 13:45 Morgan landed at Twinwood, boarded Baessell and Miller, and took off at 13:55. The UC-64 and its occupants were never seen again. The next morning, the [[Battle of the Bulge]] began. The Eighth Air Force and SHAEF did not realize that the UC-64 with Miller aboard was missing until three days later, on Monday, December 18, 1944.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Spragg |first=Dennis |title=Glenn Miller Declassified |year=2017 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-1612348957}}</ref>{{rp|210–242}}

Upon realizing the airplane and Miller were missing, Major General [[Orvil A. Anderson|Orvil Anderson]], Deputy Commander for Operations of the Eighth Air Force, who was married to Miller's cousin Maude Miller Anderson, ordered a search and investigation.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":11" /> Meanwhile, Miller's unit had flown safely from England to France aboard three C-47 transports and prepared to begin their broadcasting and concert duties. Since they were scheduled for a Christmas Day broadcast from Paris to England and via shortwave to the United States, news of Miller's whereabouts would have to be released. AAF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. notified Miller's wife, Helen, of his disappearance on December 23, 1944, with an in-person visit to their home by two senior officers and a telephone call from Gen. H. H. Arnold. On December 24, 1944, at 18:00 BST, SHAEF announced Miller's disappearance to the press, stressing that no members of his unit were with him aboard the missing airplane.<ref name=":5" />

The Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra appeared as scheduled on December 25, 1944, conducted by Jerry Gray. The unit continued to broadcast and appear throughout Europe through V-E Day and until August 1945. It received a Unit Citation from Gen. Eisenhower. Returning home, the unit resumed its ''I Sustain the Wings'' series over NBC.<ref name=":6" />

On November 13, 1945, the AAF Band appeared at the National Press Club for its final concert, which was attended by President Harry Truman and Canadian Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]. When the band appeared to the strains of Miller's theme "Moonlight Serenade", the president stood and led the audience in a spontaneous round of applause. The band was congratulated for a job "well done" in person by General Eisenhower and General Arnold.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":15" />

Their last performance was the ''I Sustain the Wings'' broadcast at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., on NBC radio on November 17, 1945.<ref name="arlington" /> Its personnel were gradually discharged, and the unit was disestablished in January 1946.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":11" />

===Condolences===
Helen Miller accepted her husband's Bronze Star Medal at a ceremony at Miller's New York business office on March 23, 1945<ref name=":5" /> (''Glenn Miller Declassified'', p.&nbsp;304). When Miller was officially declared dead in December 1945, Helen received a formal letter of condolence and appreciation from Gen. H. H. Arnold.<ref name=":5" /> (''Glenn Miller Declassified'', pp. xv–xvi)&nbsp;When Major General Anderson returned from Europe, he visited Helen Miller and informed her of the inquiry findings. (''Glenn Miller Declassified'', p. 322).<ref name=":5" /><ref name="arlington" />

On January 20, 1945, an Eighth Air Force Board of Inquiry in England determined that the UC-64 airplane went down over the English Channel due to a combination of human error, mechanical failure and weather. Remains of the UC-64 and its passengers have never been found. (pp.&nbsp;269–338).<ref name=":5" /><ref name="arlington" /> The three officers were officially declared dead on the standard year and a day after they disappeared. This was published in a 1946 Army publication showing that Miller has a Finding of Death (FOD).<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=War Department |title=World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from New Jersey, 1946, Bergen County, page 5, Alton G. Miller, Major. |url=https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/28/34/28-3322a.gif |access-date=June 14, 2023 |website=www.archives.gov |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923163317/https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/28/34/28-3322a.gif |url-status=live }}</ref> He was missing in action (MIA) on December 15, 1944, and his remains were not recoverable.<ref name="arlington" />

===Names on tablets of the missing===
Miller's name is engraved as Alton G. Miller on the "Tablets of the Missing" at the [[Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial]] run by the American Battle Monuments Commission in Cambridge, England.<ref name="arlington" /> The names of Flight Officer John R. S. Morgan and Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell are also carved there. Many Americans who died in the Second World War in Europe are buried there. On behalf of Miller's family and the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, an Air Force wreath ceremony was conducted there on the 50th anniversary of their deaths, December 15, 1994. A moment of silence was held there and at Arlington National Cemetery.<ref name=":13" />

===Memorial headstone===
At his daughter's request nearly 50 years later, an official, government-issued memorial headstone was placed for Major Alton Glenn Miller, US Army (Air Corps), in memorial section H at the Army-run Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia in 1992.<ref name="arlington" /> A trombone, 464-A, and the words "Bronze Star Medal" are carved on the back of the white marble marker.<ref name="arlington" />

===Memorial Tree – An American Holly===
A living memorial to the entire unit can be seen from Miller's marble memorial. Using military date style, the "Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in service from 20 March 1943 – 15 January 1946" is carved in the black granite marker in front of an American Holly tree.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":1" /> The marker has etchings of a trombone and the patches of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force ([[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force|SHAEF]]) and the [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]] (AAF) on it. Before it was carved in stone, the military band's title was verified by [[Norman Leyden]] who was an arranger and clarinetist in the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra. The name was also confirmed by Kathy Shenkle (Air Force, Army, and [[Arlington National Cemetery]] historian), C.F. Alan Cass, curator of the Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado at Boulder,<ref name=":6" /> the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society president, and other historians and band members for the US Army and US Air Force.<ref name=":1" />

Located in Section 13 along Wilson Drive, the tree was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of Miller's death, December 15, 1994.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13">"Clarinda benefits from efforts of Glenn Miller Birthplace Society", Clarinda Herald-Journal: Clarinda, Iowa, November 6, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2022.</ref> The American Holly is meant to remind visitors of the tune "American Patrol".<ref name="arlington" />  ''[[Taps (bugle call)|Taps]]'' was sounded at the wreath ceremony, memorial service and tree dedication.<ref name="arlington" /> A moment of silence took place both at Arlington, Virginia, and in Cambridge, England. The Secretary of the Air Force was the main speaker.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13" /> Attendees included Sergeant Emanuel Wishnow (viola), other unit veterans, Miller's family, military service members, US senators, Glenn Miller Archives founder and curator C.F. Alan Cass, and members of the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13" /> The Jazz Ambassadors of the US Army Field Band performed at the luncheon at Fort Myer that followed the ceremony.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13" /> One of Miller's trombones was displayed on stage.<ref name=":13" /> The Airmen of Note and the Army Blues had performances elsewhere during the day.<ref name="arlington" /> The US Air Force Band (with their orchestra) played a 50th anniversary memorial concert that night and on tour for the next year.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13" /> The Coast Guard Band and Marine Corps Band commanders joined the other bands in sending written greetings.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":13" /> On the 75th anniversary on December 15, 2019, Ms. Kathy Shenkle represented them all at a wreath ceremony there with wreaths provided by Wreaths Across America.<ref name="arlington" />

=== Investigation into disappearance ===
A document concerning the military career and disappearance of Miller appeared during 2017 in the book ''Glenn Miller Declassified'' by Dennis M. Spragg, director of the Glenn Miller Archives. On behalf of the Glenn Miller Estate and with the full cooperation of American and British authorities, all relevant and many new documents concerning the circumstances of the accident were discovered and published, including the inquiry findings of January 20, 1945. According to the book, Miller had no other duties than as a musical and broadcasting officer, and his high profile and schedule ruled out any clandestine role as later speculated by sensationalists. The book concludes that he was not the victim of foul play or friendly fire.<ref name=":5" />

In 2019, [[the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery]] (TIGHAR) was reported to be investigating a report that Miller's airplane was possibly discovered many miles west of its required flight path but nothing further has been reported or found. Given modern technology, a well-funded and patient exploration could possibly find and identify the debris of the airplane along the required air transport corridor between Langney Point (Beachy Head) and St. Valery, France.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dennismspragg.com/glenn-miller-declassified/|title=Glenn Miller Declassified, the definitive biography by Dennis M. Spragg|website=Dennismspragg.com|access-date=September 29, 2021|archive-date=September 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929152947/https://www.dennismspragg.com/glenn-miller-declassified/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-46863606 |title=Team to probe Glenn Miller 'crash site' |work=BBC News |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115064512/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-46863606 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.colorado.edu/music/2014/07/08/revealed-what-really-happened-when-glenn-miller-disappeared-1944 |title=Revealed: What really happened when Glenn Miller disappeared in 1944 |date=July 8, 2014 |website=College of Music |access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506034049/https://www.colorado.edu/music/2014/07/08/revealed-what-really-happened-when-glenn-miller-disappeared-1944 |url-status=live }}</ref>