Something for the weekend. US Air Force song a/k/a Wild Blue Yonder. A week since Operation Midnight Hammer, this song seems appropriate. Also appropriate to recall Glenn Miller, a master musician and a true patriot. Too old at age 38, he joined the Army Air Forces, forsaking a weekly income of a third of a million dollars in today’s money, to modernize military music and make it a morale raiser for the young GIs. Organizing the Army Air Force Band, his performances were immensely popular. He lost his life when his plane went missing over the English Channel in bad weather on December 15, 1944.
Current Version:
Glenn Miller was indeed a patriot. His great music lives on.
There are a number of theories as to what happened to his plane. Some have claimed it was knocked out of the sky by the concussive effects of bombs being dumped by returning bombers over the English channel after they were forced to abandon a bombing mission. Conversely, in a bio I read by a WW2 vet, he claimed friendly fire from an air defense battery on the English coast destroyed it. They hadn’t received proper identification from the plane and assumed it to be hostile.
It’s a mystery unlikely to ever be resolved. Unless if by chance they find the wreckage.
Thank you, Mr. McClarey. My cousin Mike is retired from the USAF. He was a career NCO who fought in Vietnam. He qualifies to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery if that is what he chooses.
On Monday of last week (June 23, 2025) my younger son and I were in DC for the day. We were visiting ANC (I have two family members buried there….I will never be) and I walked near a funeral service for (likely) a USAF retiree. There was only one car for visitors and the USAF funeral detachment. I kept my distance as it was a very hot day and I knew I was not presentable for such a service.