John Glenn

Senator John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (born July 18, 1921) is a former American fighter pilot, astronaut, and politician. He was the third American astronaut to travel in space and the first American to complete an orbit of the earth. Later he served as a United States Senator from Ohio (1974-1999).

Early history and military career

Born in New Concord, Ohio, Glenn obtained a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Muskingum College. He enrolled in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1942, and was assigned to the Marines VMO-155 group in 1944. Glenn flew a Corsair over the Marshall Islands, specifically Maloelap, where he was tasked with attacking anti-aircraft gunnery and ground bombardment. By 1945, he was transferred to the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, where he became a test pilot and was promoted to Captain by the war's end.

After the war, Glenn flew patrol missions in North China, based in Guam, but in 1948 he became an flight instructor at Corpus Christi, Texas, then undertook an amphibious warfare course and was assigned a staff assignment, all the while angling to get transferred to combat in Korea. Once there, after flying combat missions for the Marines, Glenn got the chance to fly with the Air Force on an inter-service exchange. Flying an Air Force F-86 Sabre, he shot down three MiGs. He received several medals for his service.

He returned to Patuxent River after the Korean War, where he became a test pilot for new planes. Glenn was the armament officer, taking test planes up to high altitudes and testing the cannon/machine guns aboard the plane. He eventually completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight on July 16, 1957, in a Vought F8U "Crusader." The flight was from California to New York and lasted 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds. As Glenn passed over his hometown, his neighbor reportedly ran to his parent's house shouting "Johnny dropped a bomb! Johnny dropped a bomb" as the supersonic boom shook the town.

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