Clair Cline

[1] Cline built a working violin, using wood scraps from bed slats, aid crates, and table legs.

[3] He acquired catgut for the violin strings, and obtained a bow by trading cigarettes provided by the Red Cross with one of the guards.

[1] Violinist Glenn Dicterow, who was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, played the violin at a special concert commemorating the event.

[1] Cline worked as a cabinetmaker in Tacoma,[2] and made additional instruments including "a dozen more violins, three basses, a cello and two violas" as a hobby.

[1] He built a bass viol for his son, Roger, who attended graduate school at University of Michigan, joined the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point,[2] and went on to become bassist for the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.

[1] In 2017, BYUtv released a feature-length film, Instrument of War, based on the story of his life with the role of Cline played by British actor Jack Ashton.