Episode 139: The King of Swing, Part II

 

Because of  his age (he was 38) and needing glasses, Glenn Miller was unlikely to be drafted for military service, but like so many Americans of his day, he wanted to find some way to serve. Eventually the Army accepted him, commissioned him a captain, and put him in charge of all Army Air Forces bands.

After being stuck stateside for several months, Miller's desire to deploy overseas and perform for US troops became a reality when General Dwight Eisenhower personally requested Miller and his band come to England before the D-Day invasion.

In late-1944, Miller was promoted to major and received approval to move his headquarters from London to Paris following the liberation of that city. He flew to France on December 15, 1944 but his plane disappeared and he, his pilot, and his traveling companion were never seen again. They were all declared dead one year and one day later on December 16, 1945.

In 1944, at his daughter's request, a cenotaph was installed for Major Alton Glenn Miller at Arlington National Cemetery, in Memorial Section H, Grave 464-A. As far as I can tell, the trombone on the backside of his marker is unique to his headstone.

Before that time, his official memorial was his name engraved on "The Tablets of the Missing" at the Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridge, England.

In Section 13 at Arlington, beneath an American Holly tree, is the memorial marker dedicated to the memory of Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra.

Miller has a second cenotaph, this one installed by a fan who has no relation to Miller or his family, at the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut. 

Episode 138: The King of Swing, Part I

 

Glenn Miller was born in a small town in Iowa and decided early on that he wanted to be a professional musician. It took time and a lot of frustration for him to make his dream a reality but by 1938, thousands of dancers and millions of radio listeners knew and loved Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. In four and a half years they would feature in two Hollywood films, produce 121 singles, 69 Billboard charters, and 13 #1 hits before their band leader left to join the US Army Air Corps in World War II.

Episode 137: Sons of Hawaii, Part III

 

Senator Daniel K. Inouye served through the administrations of ten US presidents, including Ghost of Arlington, John F. Kennedy (above) and JFK's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson (below).

President Bill Clinton presented Inouye with the Medal of Honor when his Distinguished Service Cross, earned in World War II, was upgraded in 2000 (below).

Senator Inouye is one of only 38 people to lay in state in the US Capitol Building. Hundreds of people paid their respects, including life-long friend, fellow-wounded veteran, and senator Bob Dole (below).

After lying in state in Washington DC, he laid in state at the Hawaii Statehouse before being interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section D, Grave 391-A.

Episode 136: Sons of Hawaii, Part II

Danny Inouye wanted to be a doctor when he grew up - specifically, he wanted to be a surgeon. When he was a senior in high school he was a Red Cross volunteer. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he saw the planes flying over Honolulu and rushed to an aid station where he treated civilians injured by falling anti-aircraft shells.

As soon as he could, Danny enlisted in the army and was sent to Italy with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The war shattered his dream of becoming a doctor but a fellow wounded veteran, Bob Dole (yes, that Bob Dole) told him of his plan to become a lawyer and a politician in Kansas. Danny liked the sound of that, returned to Hawaii and entered politics as well. Little did he know he would become arguably the most influential politician in the history of Hawaii, whether the Kingdom, the Republic, or the State.

Captain Inouye (front, far left) next to Captain Bob Dole (left, profile, card in left hand) and other wounded veterans in a rehabilitation hospital that would one day bear both Inouye and Dole's names.

Episode 135: Sons of Hawaii, Part I

 

Already an Army officer before Pearl Harbor, Spark Matsunaga was one of the 100th Infantry Battalion's junior officers when that unit was stood up. He had hoped that by volunteering for active duty in the pre-war military would prove his loyalty but he was treated with the same suspicion as all Nisei US citizens.

After the war, Matsunaga used his GI Bill to attend Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, he returned to Hawaii and in 1959 was elected to that state's first state legislature. In time, the electorate of Hawaii would send Matsunaga to Washington, DC. First as a member of the US House of Representatives and then as a US Senator.

Matsunaga was well respected by members of both his own Democrat party as well as the opposition Republicans, including President Ronald Reagan (left).

US Senator and Army Lieutenant Colonel Spark Masayuki Matsunaga died on April 15, 1990, at age 73. He was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section V, Grave 334-B under the epitaph "Beloved Son of Hawaii."

Episode 134: Tales from Punchbowl, Part VII

 

Army Brigadier General Francis Shigeo Takemoto was the first Japanese American general officer in the US military. He was promoted to brigadier general in the Hawaii National Guard by Hawaii Governor in January 1964. In February 1964 he was nominated by President Lyndon Johnson to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army Reserves. That nomination was confirmed by the full US Senate two weeks later.

Brigadier General Takemoto passed away on May 26, 2002; he was 89 years old. His ashes were installed at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Columbarium Court 3, Row 300, niche 304.

Army Captain Allan Masaharu Ohata was a quiet achieve who went above and beyond the call of duty but did not like to ask others for help and almost never spoke of the war once he returned from Europe. Many of his closest friends who met him after the war had no idea he was a veteran until he passed away.

Captain Ohata passed away on October 17, 1977 after a battle with cancer; he was 59 years old. He was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section III, Grave 474.

Episode 133: Tales from Punchbowl, Part VII

After a LONG break with no new episodes due to work, I am finally back... with one new episode before I leave for another extended work trip. Regardless, I wanted to get one new story in before I had to leave again. This week is all about eight guys named Nakada - seven of whom are brothers and the last of whom gets a separate story because he is neither related to, nor connected to any of the others.

Captain Pershing Nakada (pictured center above) was the highest ranking Nisei officer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He commanded the 323nd Combat Engineer Company. All of his lieutenants were also Nisei making it the only all-Nisei outfit in the 442nd.

Naked after General John J. Pershing with whom his father served in World War I, Nakada survived the war though not much is know about his post-war career. He did retire as a lieutenant colonel and when he died in 1993 at the age of 75, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 68, Grave 4146.

You may be familiar with the Sullivan Brothers from Waterloo, Iowa - all five served on the light cruiser USS Juneau and all were killed when that ship was sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign in 1943. The Sullivan family had the unenvious distinction of being the family with the most sons killed during the war, but there was a family who sent more sons off to war. The Nakada family from Southern California sent seven brothers off to war while the rest of the family was interned in a concentration camp. There are a few sources that say all nine Nakada boys went off to war but looking at birthdates - by my math the youngest two would have been much too young to serve. Five served in the Military Intelligence Service and two in the 442nd.

Unlike with the Sullivans, all seven Nakadas survived the war and like Captain Pershing Nakada, not much is know about them. I wasn't even able to find photos and the ranks of most of them, but I did learn that when one of the brothers, Technician Fifth Grade Minoru Paul Nakada died in 2001 at the age of 80, he was cremated and his remains were installed at Arlington National Cemetery in Columbarium 5, Section N2, Row13, Niche 5.