Know what you're writing about

A column written for Wisconsin Rapids' GO section had a historical goof. The column was about the Glenn Miller Orchestra coming to Rapids. The writer said Glenn Miller joined the Army in 1938. No so. He started his successful civilian band in 1938, which he disbanded when he joined the Army in the fall of 1942. The only reason I know this is because I'm a big Glenn Miller fan. But what if the copy editor knew little about Glenn Miller? How would he or she know whether anything the writer wrote was correct or not? (OK, this is more for the reporters, but I hope they look at this from time to time.)

And for the record, the Army was known as the Army Air Force during World War II.