Remembering America’s John Glenn
On December 8, 2016, John Glenn, a hero to many Americans, passed away at age 95. Glenn was most known for being the first American to orbit the Earth which he completed in 1962. Some of his many awards for his service include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During retirement, John and his wife Annie founded the John Glenn College for Public Service at the Ohio State University. It was founded to encourage people to pursue careers in government.
John Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio, on July 18, 1921. As a young boy, he showed an interest in science and space travel. He graduated from New Concord High School and went to Muskingum University. Before his career as an astronaut, he served in the military. He was a marine pilot, in the South Pacific, during World War II and flew a total of 59 combat missions. Glenn remained in the military and fought in the Korean War. He completed 63 missions as a Marine fighter pilot and 27 missions as an exchange pilot with the Air Force. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross six times for his service in the military.
After the Korean War John Glenn attended test pilot school and joined the Naval Air Test Center’s staff of expert flyers. During this time, he set a speed record from Los Angeles to New York which he completed in three hours and twenty-three minutes.
At a time when the world feared nuclear war, John responded to NASA’s call for pilots regarding its new suborbital and orbital program. In 1959 he was selected to be one of the seven astronauts in the United States space program. Being one of the “Mercury Seven,” John was the first to fully orbit the earth. He made a total of three orbits in about five hours. John Glenn was officially the first American to orbit the earth. He later described that he “found weightlessness to be extremely pleasant.”
After returning to Earth, Glenn was instantly famous and was deemed a national hero. He remained as an advisor to NASA until 1964 when he retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel because he had decided to run for Senate. Forced to drop out of the race because of an injury, John became the vice-president and then president of Royal Crown Cola. He was still drawn to public affairs, and ran for Senate again in 1970. He lost but didn’t give up, and eventually won the 1974 election. John served as the Senator of Ohio for four terms or twenty-four years total.
Glenn returned to space on October 29, 1998, at age 77, and became the oldest person to enter space. The trip was scientific in nature and was taken to study the effects of aging and space travel. Glenn stated that “in orbit, you’re keyed up and aware of everything going on, every little noise, anything that may have special meaning because of where you are.” In 2012, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Through John Glenn’s service in two wars, participation in the space travel, and twenty-four years in the Senate, his contributions to science and America will not be forgotten. Some could say he was truly the “All American Man.” Even in death, John Glenn is and will always be an inspiration and hero to many Americans.