by Kiah MD John Glenn
He was inspirational, a hero, in many so many ways.
Clearly, I have an affinity, if only through the name. I was six years old when he was the first American to orbit the earth on Friendship 7, as part of the Mercury space program and the space race. I recall my mother buying me a “spacesuit”, a set of blue overalls with a John Glenn nametag and a NASA logo. I also seem to recall the never-ending amusement amongst the adults when asking my name were told John Glenn – the general retort being “cute son, what is it really?”
Back to the real John Glenn. He joined the Naval Aviation Cadet Program after Pearl Harbour, piloted fighter planes over the Marshall Islands during WWII, instructed others in advanced flight training after the war, and made the decision to fly missions during the Korean War.
While in orbit, the ship’s automatic controls malfunctioned and he took control of the craft manually, all the while snapping pictures of sunsets, a sandstorm in the Sahara and the lights in Australia. Perth is well known for turning ON all its lights so it could be seen from space.
He was considered a Cold War hero and more than one historian suggests that he was not allowed to return to space for fear of the US losing a hero. He did continue to serve at NASA and eventually became the Senator for Ohio – where he fought to clean up decades of waste from the surge of nuclear weapons of the Cold War, and pursued legislation to stop the spread of such weapons. He also campaigned on the economy, the environment, and against government fraud.
John Glenn remained grounded for 36 years, until 1998 when he completed a mission on the Space Shuttle Discovery at the age of 77 – becoming the oldest person to have travelled to space.
His wife of 60-plus years, Annie, was his childhood sweetheart. He has referred to his wife as his biggest hero, who overcame severe stuttering to become an accomplished public speaker and public advocate for people with disabilities
The other quote of his I particularly like is
“… heroes have dedicated themselves to something that is very important to everybody and their own affairs have become secondary”.
This from a man who earned six Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism and bravery above and beyond the call of duty.
You don’t have to agree with every choice he made or everything he did. You don’t have to agree with his position or his religion. But surely you would have to agree he was principled man who committed his life to things greater than himself. That alone makes him a hero in my book. I missed out twice, by a hair’s, on meeting him. The second time, because I was too slow to seize the opportunity. Shame on me.
It may have been serendipitous – but I am quite proud to be his namesake.
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