Ask AP: Glenn Miller, Johnny Desmond

Celebrities, Celebrity Q&A, People
on October 21, 2010

I vaguely recall that musician Glenn Miller was an Army Air Force captain, and that he and his band’s vocalist, Johnny Desmond, a sergeant,¬† never returned or were never found after their last mission. Is that true?
Georgene Suchomel, Necedah, Wis.

Bandleader Miller died Dec. 15, 1944, at age 40 when his small plane reportedly crashed in the English Channel. No wreckage or remains were found. At his daughter’s request, his tombstone was placed in Arlington National Cemetery in 1992. Desmond, who sang in Miller’s Army Air Force Orchestra, survived the war and continued his musical career. He died in 1985 at 65. Among the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s most famous hits were “In the Mood,” “Moonlight Serenade” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”