I am writing about Miller at
this particular time because it was on December 15, 1944, that his airplane
went missing over the English Channel. It is thus assumed that he died 70 years
ago today.
Most of you may not know that
Glenn got his first trombone and had the beginning of his musical career in the
little town of Grant City, Missouri—which just happens to be my hometown.
Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa, on March 1, 1904, but in 1915 his family
moved to Grant City where they resided until 1918.
According to the memorial
erected on the courthouse lawn by the Worth County Historical Society in 1999,
it was in the county seat town of Grant City that Glenn “acquired his first
trombone and taught to play by John Mosbarger, the town band director. Young
Miller worked as a shoe shine boy in Mosbarger’s cleaning parlor.”
I couldn’t find it
documented anywhere, but I remember hearing how some of the people in the Grant
City town band didn’t particularly like for young Glenn, who apparently looked
sort of tacky, to march with them. In response to their grumbling, Mr.
Mosbarger (1881-1956) told them than if they didn’t want Glenn to march with
them, then he could walk with him at the front of the band.
On the front page of the
June 11 issue of The Times-Tribune, my hometown weekly newspaper, there was an
article titled “70 years After His Death, Glenn Miller’s Legacy Lives On.” That
weekend was the 39th annual Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda.
I wish I could have attended
those festivities, for in addition to the current Glenn Miller Orchestra being
there, the Tamana Girls High School Band from Japan also performed. (Tamana is
a town about 60 miles from where I lived in Japan for so many years.)
The 1954 movie “The Glenn
Miller Story” premiered in Clarinda. During my high school years in Grant City,
my only girlfriend was Chloris King. Her mother, Verga (1896-1974), was John
Mosbarger’s sister, and I remember Chloris telling about her parents going to
Clarinda with Uncle John and his wife Effie for the premier of that film. Jimmy
Stewart, who played Miller in the movie, was there for that gala opening.
People from Worth County
were disappointed that the movie started after the Miller family had moved away
from Grant City, so the town is not mentioned at all. But Grant City is
referred to in various online websites about Glenn Miller, including Wikipedia.
The town is also mentioned
in Scott Stanton’s 2003 book “The Trombone Tourist,” and John Mosbarger is
quoted: “Grant City, Missouri, in 1917 wasn’t a very big place, and when a
strong-lunged youngster cut loose on a trombone, you heard him all over town”
(p. 171).
In 1942 Miller, at the age
of 38, volunteered for the U.S. military and formed the Glenn Miller Army Air
Force Band. On Dec. 15, 1944, Glenn boarded an airplane in England and set off
for France, where he was going to perform in a Christmas program. He was never
heard from again; his plane apparently crashed in the English Channel. What a
tragedy!
