Midwest Today,

DID GLENN MILLER
REALLY DIE
IN PLANE CRASH?

Author claims he died in a Paris brothel

Udo Ulfkotte says instead that while doing research for a book, he discovered Secret Service files which show that Miller died of a heart attack in the arms of a Paris prostitute Dec. 15, 1944.

A retired colonel who says he was Glenn Miller's pilot disputes the claim. Lt.-Col. Robert Baker told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he and Miller were drinking together in England the night before. "I just know the brothel story is a lie because there was no way Miller could have gotten to Paris by December 15 except on my flight," Baker insisted.

Ulfoutte says in his book "BND, the Secret Files," that the embarrassing circumstances of the band leader's death were not disclosed because it would have undermined Allied propaganda efforts.

The famed trombonist, who wrote "In the Mood," "Moonlight Serenade" and other hits, first had a civilian band of renown. Then he headed an Army-Air Force group that not only performed in 71 concerts for 250,000 allied personnel, but also made numerous secret broadcasts to German troops following the D-day landings, while dance music was banned in Nazi Germany.

Just two weeks before his death, Miller and his orchestra recorded 20 new tunes in London that were only unearthed in 1995. On the recordings, Miller can be overheard in an unguarded moment flirting with a German girl.

In the year before his death, the 40-year-old Miller had a serious illness. And although Baker claims he drank with him, others say Miller was once kicked out of a bar for being a teetotaler.

Supposedly, Miller, another passenger and a pilot took off informally on an uncharted flight without clearance, on a foggy day when all other aircraft were grounded. "Why Glenn, who had a real fear of planes, decided to risk a trip under such adverse conditions has never been determined," wrote his friend George Simon.

Simon also quotes Miller as once telling him, "I find myself doing things I'm ashamed of doing, and yet I know people would never understand if I told them the plain, simple truth."

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