On March 1, 1904 Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa.

At the age of 11 Glenn was given his first trombone and played in the Grant City, Missouri town band.

In high school, Glenn become very interested in a new sound called dance band music. Glenn and some classmates decided to start their own band. Glenn was so excited about this new dance band music that when it came time for his graduation in 1921, he skipped his graduation ceremonies to play in his band.

An opportunity opened up through which Glenn could play in the Holly Moyer Orchestra in Boulder and earn enough money to attend the University of Colorado. This lasted for two years, but in 1924, Glenn’s musical ambition, and a new job with the Tommy Watkins Orchestra, caused him to discontinue his college education so that he could spend full time playing and arranging music.

Hearing of numerous opportunities, Glenn eventually headed for Los Angeles. While playing with the Ben Pollack Orchestra, Glenn roomed with another rising star, a clarinetist from Chicago named Benny Goodman.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s Glenn organized, managed arranged music for and played trombone in big bands in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. In 1934, he helped the Dorsey brothers to organize their first full-time big band.

Finally, in 1937, Glenn decided to fulfill his dream and organize his own big band. In March of 1939, the Glenn Miller Orchestra was chosen to play the summer season at the prestigious Glen Island Casino, in New Rochelle, New York. This big break led to subsequent engagements. Frequent radio broadcasts gave the Miller Orchestra a nationwide following by the summer of 1939.

The Chesterfield radio broadcasts only increased the orchesta’s already great popularity. The band was in constant demand for recording sessions and appeared in two films; Sun Valley Serenade in 1941 and Orchestra Wives in 1942.

In 1942, at the peak of popularity, Glenn decided he could better serve his country and those in uniform by putting one on himself. Giving up substantial weekly income, Glenn persuaded the Army to accept him so he could, as he wrote in his own words, "put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts and to be placed in charge of a modernized army band."

After being accepted in the Army, the civilian Glenn Miller Orchesta played their last concert on September 27, 1942. It was such a sad moment for the orchestra members, they could not finish playing the closing theme song, Moonlight Serenade. As a captain in the Army Specialists Corps, Glenn spent the next year and a half arranging music and directing his own 50-member band. Captain Miller’s mission was morale building, bringing a touch of home to the troops and modernizing military music.

An effective fund raiser, Glenn raised millions of dollars in war bond drives. He also attracted Air Corps recruits through his I Sustain the Wings weekly radio broadcasts.

Still wanting to do more, Glenn arranged for overseas duty for the band. Arriving in London, the band was quartered in an area under constant barrage by German V-1 buzz bombs. Concerned for the band’s safety, Glenn made arrangements to move to new quarters in Bedford, England. The day after the band moved, a German buzz bomb landed in front of their old quarters, destroying the building and killing 100 people.

The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band was extremely busy and Glenn wrote home that in one month they played at 35 different bases in England, while performing 40 radio broadcasts in their spare time.

On sad musical history day, December 15, 1944, Glenn boarded a single engine C-64 Norseman aircraft to travel to Paris, France where he was to make arrangements for a Christmas broadcast on the European continent. Tragically, the plane never reached France and was never found going down somewhere in the English Channel. Without it’s gifted musical leader Glenn Miller, the band performed the scheduled Christmas concert and continued to perform throughout 1945.

The last Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band concert was held on November 13, 1945 at the National Press Club dinner for President Truman in Washington, D.C. At that time, General Dwight Eisenhower and General Hap Arnold thanked the band for a job well done.

Glenn Miller will be remembered for many things; his musical style, showmanship, hard work, perseverance, and much more. But his patriotism in giving up his number one civilian band to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps, his pioneering efforts to modernize military bands and his supreme sacrifice for his country have caused him to be remembered as Clarinda’s and America’s favorite musical patriot.