Person:John Glenn (17)

Brief Biography

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John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American aviator in the United States Marine Corps, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio; in 1998, he flew into space again at age 77.

Before joining NASA, Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, Chinese Civil War and Korean War. He shot down three MiG-15s, and was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen Air Medals. In 1957, he made the first supersonic transcontinental flight across the United States. His on-board camera took the first continuous, panoramic photograph of the United States.

He was one of the Mercury Seven, military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA as the nation's first astronauts. On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, the third American and fifth person in history to be in space. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1962, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Glenn resigned from NASA in January 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, Glenn was first elected to the Senate in 1974 and served for 24 years, until January 1999. Aged 77, Glenn flew on Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission, making him the oldest person to enter Earth orbit, and the only person to fly in both the Mercury and the Space Shuttle programs. Glenn, both the oldest and the last surviving member of the Mercury Seven, died at the age of 95 on December 8, 2016.

Video Tributes

"Godspeed, John Glenn!"
- Astronaut Scott Carpenter, 20 Feb 1962

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1. ↑ Muskingum, Ohio, United States. 1930 U.S. Census Population Schedule: Fifteenth Census of the United States, NARA Microfilm Publication T626. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration)
   Roll 1858, Union Township, Muskingum, Ohio, United States, ED 34, Sheet 3A, Family 53, Lines 1-4.
2. ↑ Muskingum, Ohio, United States. 1940 U.S. Census Population Schedule: Sixteenth Census of the United States, NARA Microfilm Publication T627. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration)
   Roll 3122, Union Township, Muskingum, Ohio, United States, ED 60-36, Sheet 1A, Family 9, Lines 36-39.
3. ↑ John Glenn, American Hero of the Space Age, Dies at 95, in The New York Times. (New York, New York)
   https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/john-glenn-dies.html?_r=0, 8 Dec 2016.
4. ↑ Obituary for John H Glenn, in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Dispatch. (Columbus, Ohio)
   http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?pid=183047811, 11 Dec 2016.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} John Glenn, in Find A Grave
   Memorial# 173642966, Dec 08, 2016.

   Birth: Jul. 18, 1921, Cambridge, Guernsey County, Ohio, USA
   Death: Dec. 8, 2016, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USA
   Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
   Plot: Section 35, Grave 1543
   GPS (lat/lon): 38.8753, -77.07368

   Astronaut, US Senator. Born John Herschel Glenn, Jr., he was the first American to orbit the Earth and went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1999. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, serving as a fighter pilot in both the Navy and Marine Corps. After the Korean War ended, he became a test pilot and when the newly formed NASA began recruiting astronauts in 1958, he applied and was selected as one of the original Mercury Seven. On February 20, 1962, he became the third American in space and the first to orbit the earth when he lifted off in Friendship 7. His observations of the the journey fascinated watchers at home, particularly his description of "little specks, brilliant specks, floating around outside the capsule". He came back to Earth after five hours and was honored as a national hero, met President Kennedy at the White House, and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. He left NASA in 1964 and retired from the Marines a year later. He first entered the world of politics by running for the US Senate from Ohio in 1964, but had to withdraw from the race early due to a concussion sustained during a fall. He ran again ten years later in 1974 for the Senate and defeated Republican Ralph Perk to become a United States Senator. He served in the Senate for four terms until retiring in 1999. During his tenure in the Senate, he was the chief author of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 and also sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984. Before retiring from the Senate, he went up in space for a second time, this time on the Space Shuttle Discovery, in 1998. In his later years he founded the John Glenn Institute of Public Service and Public Policy at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He also taught at the school as an adjunct professor. Among his many honors were the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and six Distinguished Flying Crosses. A number of roads and schools are named for him, as well as a United States Navy mobile landing platform ship. Before his passing, he was the oldest living former United States Senator. (bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye)

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Dayton Daily News. (Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States)
   A22, 11 Dec 2016.

   author: Merle F.Wilberding
   title: Godspeed, John Glenn: An Uncommon Common Man - John Glenn in Dayton

7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 Dayton Daily News. (Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States)
   A8, 30 Oct 1998.

   au:Tom Beyerlein
   ti: PROUD TOWN VIEWS LAUNCH - * Old friends, Glenn's alma mater Muskingum College and John Glenn High watch latest feat

8. ↑ Dayton Daily News. (Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States)
   John Faherty reprint from The Cincinnati Enquire, 9 Dec 2016.

   AMERICAN HERO - Combat fighter pilot made history by rocketing into the future as a pioneer of space travel JOHN GLENN 1921- 2016

9. ↑ Dayton Daily News. (Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States)
   A2, 7 Apr 2017.

   au: Jessica Wehrman
   ti: American hero Glenn interred at Arlington
   The date of his burial (7 April 2017) would have been the Glenns’ 74th wedding anniversary.

10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} John Glenn Fast Facts, in Cable News Network Library
    URL http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/us/john-glenn-fast-facts/, 28 Apr 2017.

    Here is a look at the life of John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and a former US senator (D-Ohio).

    Personal:
    Birth date: July 18, 1921
    Death date: December 8, 2016
    Birth place: Cambridge, Ohio
    Birth name: John Herschel Glenn Jr.
    Father: John Glenn Sr., a plumber
    Mother: Clara (Sproat) Glenn
    Marriage: Anna Margaret (Castor) Glenn (April 6, 1943-his death)
    Children: Carolyn Ann; John David
    Education: Muskingum College, 1939-1942
    Military service: US Marine Corps, Colonel, 1943-1965
    Other Facts:
    (1) Flew a total of 149 missions during World War II and the Korean War and received multiple medals and decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross on six occasions.
    (2) He was the last surviving of the original seven US astronauts from Project Mercury.
    Timeline:
    March 1942 - Enlists in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program and upon completing flight training in 1943, becomes a pilot for the US Marines.
    1944 - Flies 59 combat missions during his World War II service.
    1953 - Flies a total of 90 combat missions in Korea, 63 missions with Marine Fighter Squadron 311 and 27 missions with the Fifth US Air Force.
    1954-1956 - After the Korean conflict, Glenn attends test pilot school at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland.
    1957 - Sets the speed record flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes.
    April 1959 - NASA selects Glenn as one of seven astronauts for Project Mercury.
    1961 - Glenn, the oldest member of the group, serves as backup pilot when fellow astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. Grissom each make suborbital flights.
    February 20, 1962 - An Atlas rocket launches his space capsule, the Friendship 7. Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth, circling the globe three times in four hours and 56 minutes.
    January 1964 - Resigns from NASA's astronaut program.
    1964 - Enters the Ohio Democratic primary to challenge the incumbent Senator Stephen M. Young, but withdraws after being injured in a fall.
    1965 - Retires from active service in the US Marine Corps to enter the business world.
    1965-1970 - Serves as vice president and then president of Royal Crown Cola.
    1970 - Glenn enters the Democratic primary for the US Senate but loses.
    November 1974-1999 - Elected to the US Senate, serving four consecutive terms (D-Ohio).
    1978 - Chief author of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978, prohibiting the sale of nuclear equipment to nations that currently have none.
    1983-1984 - Runs unsuccessfully for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. He drops out of the race after failing to win any early primaries or caucuses.
    1987-1995 - Glenn serves as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and sits on the Foreign Relations, Armed Services Committees and the Special Committee on Aging.
    February 20, 1997 - Glenn announces on the 35th anniversary of his historic flight that he will not run for re-election in the US Senate.
    October 29, 1998 - A 77-year-old Glenn becomes the oldest person ever to venture into space. Glenn serves as a payload specialist in the STS-95 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
    February 2006 - NASA awards Glenn and 37 other astronauts the Ambassador of Exploration Award.
    November 16, 2011 - Receives the Congressional Gold Medal for Distinguished Astronauts along with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
    May 29, 2012 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
    February 1, 2014 - Glenn and his wife, Annie, are present as their daughter, Lyn, christens the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) John Glenn, a US Navy ship.
    May 2014 - Undergoes successful heart valve replacement surgery.
    April 24, 2015 - Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. The college evolved from the John Glenn Institute for Public Policy and Management, founded at Ohio State in 1998.
    June 28, 2016 - Attends a ceremony celebrating the renaming of the Port Columbus Airport to John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
    December 7, 2016 - Ohio State University spokesman Hank Wilson says Glenn was hospitalized "more than a week ago," but does not have any information about his condition.
    December 8, 2016 - Dies at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.

11.   Dayton Daily News. (Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States)
    page 1, 22 Jan 1962.

    "It Just Had to Be Johnny" by Mary Ellen Lynch. Article and photograph.