A good Marine passed away today at the age of 95 www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/08/astronaut-and-former-us-senator-john-glenn-dies-at-95.html The way things are going I am pretty sure he was on the Trump's short list for heading up NASA
Glenn was the last of the original Mercury 7. To strap inside the little shoe box they called the Mercury capsule and ride a rocket took a special kind of moxie. Some excellent photos and articles about the Mercury program here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/spacecraft.html
I nearly missed the school bus waiting to see him launch. (IIRC as the sequence, that is. I was constantly on the verge of getting a day off because Mom was distracted too.)
In WWII, he flew a Corsair in mostly ground support missions through the Marshall Islands. In Korea, he shot down three MIG-15s flying an F-86F Sabre. He once landed with over 250 holes in his aircraft. His Korean War call sign became "Magnet Ass" due to his habit of completely ignoring flak to get at a target. Yeah, he was a real Marine. Rest In Peace, Sir.
John Glenn was an epic hero. I got to meet him as a first grader when he came and visited our school at MCAS Cherry Point North Carolina, felt like, and can remember all these years later, I was in the presence of a god. I don't think the younger forum members can remember, or know, how totally enthralled most Americans were with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, and what larger than life heroes the astronauts were to us. John Glenn is still motivating young Marines to this day. Before going into one of the biggest operations in the entire War in Afghanistan, the clearing of a 125 square mile Taliban stronghold around Marjah Afghanistan, a USMC Gunnery Sgt. gave this motivational speech about John Glenn to the young Marines. It's a fitting tribte to a great man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYucS88cxA
I was never in the service, but I have to agree with Bob. Being somewhat older (ahem), I have vivid memories of the missions of all the space launches. I went so far as to register to be the first "teacher in space". Space has always been a fantasy of mine. John Glenn is in my pantheon.
