Glenn Miller’s big-band/swing song Chattanooga Choo Choo was the #1 American hit in December 1941. The 78-rpm recording of the song on RCA Victor’s Bluebird label became the first certified gold disc on February 10, 1942 with for sales of 1,200,000.

In December 1944, traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France in bad weather, Glenn Miller’s airplane disappeared over the English Channel.