Glenn Was True American Hero Many
The word “hero” is used far too commonly, often in reference to people who simply do not deserve the title.
John Glenn did. But he was much more than a hero.
Glenn died Thursday at 95 years of age, after a life of courage, dedication, patriotism, service and distinction.
He was an East Ohio native, born in Cambridge and matured in New Concord.
Glenn was a hero in both World War II and the Korean War. He flew 149 combat missions in the two conflicts, earning a name for himself for his dogged attacks that often put him in great peril.
Later, he became a test pilot, pitting his skills and nerve against machines rather than a human enemy.
His name became a household word worldwide in 1962, when he became the first American sent into orbit around the earth. He did that at a time when being an astronaut amounted to allowing oneself to be strapped to a cylinder packed with high explosives, then telling controllers to set them off.
A test pilot and astronaut at a time when risky behavior often extended to social life, Glenn was known by his peers as a straight arrow, devoted to his beloved wife, Annie.
As if his life had not been full enough of service, Glenn served as a U.S. senator from Ohio — for 24 years. No one else ever held the confidence of Buckeye State voters for that long.
Glenn was more than a great Ohioan. His life made him a great American.
Upon learning of his death, NASA officials resurrected something their predecessors said to him in 1962, as he was rocketing into history. The words were appropriate then, and they are now:
Godspeed, John Glenn.
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