Welcome to the Glenn Miller Declassified Opinion Archive. These are the online posts by Dennis M. Spragg, author of the critically praised and definitive biography of Glenn Miller, an American musical legend and patriot.
Firstly, Glenn Miller was America’s number one bandleader who walked away from his lucrative career to enlist in the Army during World War II. But he then created a large entertainment unit for the Army Air Forces. The group was a great evolutionary leap musically. Likewise, his AAF Band included many top singers and musicians. Among Miller’s group were jazz greats such as bandleader and drummer Ray McKinley, singers Tony Martin and Johnny Desmond, pianist Mel Powell and even a large string section drawn from many symphony orchestras. In short order, the AAF Band became extremely popular in the United States.
Later, in England, the AAF Band entertained and broadcast to the allied forces and European people. On December 15, 1944, Major Glenn Miller boarded a small airplane to fly from England to France. The airplane disappeared over the English Channel. Consequently, authorities have never found any trace of the airplane. To this day, Major Miller remains listed as “missing in action.”
Furthermore, these articles from Glenn Miller Declassified there is a considerable amount of valuable information. In conclusion, for additional information about Glenn Miller, please go to the Dennis M. Spragg or the Glenn Miller Archives websites.
The Artie Shaw Navy Band Review and Recommendation Michael Doyle’s new book “Nightmare in the Pacific, the World War II saga of Artie Shaw and his Navy Band” is an essential addition to big band-era and jazz scholarship and a must for anyone interested in 20th-century American music and musicians. The actual circumstances of how … Read more
EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY UPDATE: 1944-2024 GLENN MILLER DISAPPEARANCE In August 2020, The Daily Express of London headlined “World War 2 Mystery: Glenn Miller’s plane could be found within a three-mile radius.” The breaking news reported aviation archeology group TIGHAR “and Dennis Spragg, who authored the book Glenn Miller Declassified, suspect that the remains of the airplane … Read more
Eightieth Anniversary: 1944-2024 Glenn Miller, the legendary American bandleader, disappeared eighty years ago over the English Channel. The Army Air Forces Major was an unauthorized passenger aboard a flight from RAF Twinwood Field, Bedfordshire, to USAAF Station A-42, Villacoublay Aerodrome, France. With Glenn Miller’s son Steven Davis Miller, and Alan Cass, Curator of the University … Read more
GLENN MILLER AWARD On October 5, 2024, the Air Force Public Affairs Association inducted Major Glenn Miller into its Hall of Fame. Addressing the annual meeting of the organization in San Antonio, Texas, Dennis M. Spragg accepted the Glenn Miller Award on behalf of his family and many friends. Thanking the organization, Spragg shared a … Read more
1935-2024 DEAN OF BIG BAND SCHOLARS With the greatest sorrow, the Glenn Miller Collections and the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society regret to inform our worldwide community about the recent passing of the legendary Edward F. Polic. Our brilliant and uncompromising colleague and mentor had a profound influence upon anyone and everyone who loves the music … Read more
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER Celebrating its 80th anniversary, America’s international broadcasting service, the Voice of America, serves as an important and reliable source of news and information for people around the world. During February 1942, the United States launched wartime overseas service with Stimmen aus America (Voices from America) for the people of the enemy … Read more
AN IMPORTANT TRANSITION NICK HILSCHER Nick Hilscher has been music director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 2012 until the pandemic intervened. Previously, Nick and the band kept an exhausting schedule of appearances seemingly nonstop year-round. They have thrilled thousands of ardent fans from coast-to-coast and across the Pacific to Japan. During the hiatus, Nick … Read more
GLENN MILLER’S GERMAN LANGUAGE BROADASTS “THE OWI AIMS AT FRITZ” “LONDON – The German Army, target of the “German Wehrmacht Hour” beamed out by ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) is getting its first taste of OWI-supplied live popular music according to the New York office of the OWI’s Overseas Branch. Beginning last Wednesday (Nov. … Read more
WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESSIONAL INITIATIVES Firstly, here is an update regarding our Glenn Miller Medal of Freedom and military honors initiative. As published in Glenn Miller Declassified: “Major Alton Glenn Miller, Air Corps, Army of the United States, confidently boarded the wrong aircraft on the wrong day to do his job as he saw it … Read more
HOW GLENN MILLER’S MUSIC DEFINED A GENERATION “Moonlight Serenade” is my essay appearing in the November 2019 edition of Smithsonian Magazine. It honors Glenn Miller and his famous recording. Moreover, it appears on the seventy-fifth anniversary of his disappearance. Here is a link to my Smithsonian essay, which also appears on Smithsonian Online: AMERICA’S NUMBER … Read more