American Hero John Glenn passes

I know he was 95, and had a great life, but I mourn the passing of Astronaut and Senator John Glenn.



Godspeed, sir.


AA

He had the right stuff

To my fellow Buckeye, RIP and God Speed.

Rest in Peace.

Hand Salute!

tsv said:

To my fellow Buckeye, RIP and God Speed.

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I, too, am a native Buckeye.

Sorry to hear that. He had a long, full life and laid it all out for his country.

I was born in 1959 and all of us that age and older can well remember when the space program was huge news. Each launch was covered like the Super Bowl.

Our younger members here really can't appreciate how big the astronauts were as celebrities in the 60's and early 70's.

BSAGuy said:

Sorry to hear that. He had a long, full life and laid it all out for his country.

I was born in 1959 and all of us that age and older can well remember when the space program was huge news. Each launch was covered like the Super Bowl.

Our younger members here really can't appreciate how big the astronauts were as celebrities in the 60's and early 70's.

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I was born in 68, but everyone was still buzzing about these guys. I met Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) about 7 or 8 years ago- great guy.

I remember. Every launch; every moon landing and every return to Earth- how we watched for those three parachutes! - was celebrated by a proud nation. Heroes; all.

But John was first to orbit, taking that tin can atop a somewhat-faulty Atlas ICBM for three spins around this rock to balance Gagarin's flight with our own.


AA

For anyone who wants to learn about the Original 7 Mercury astronauts, rent The Right Stuff (1983) or read Tom Wolfe's book by the same name. Great re-telling of the X-1 program to break the sound barrier and the early years of the space program. Movie had several actors that became quite well known in the 80's like Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn, Barbara Hershey, Jeff Goldblum, and Chuck Yeager.

BSAGuy said:

For anyone who wants to learn about the Original 7 Mercury astronauts, rent The Right Stuff (1983) or read Tom Wolfe's book by the same name. Great re-telling of the X-1 program to break the sound barrier and the early years of the space program. Movie had several actors that became quite well known in the 80's like Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn, Barbara Hershey, Jeff Goldblum, and Chuck Yeager.

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I have never seen the Right Stuff. Of course, Netflix doesn't have it. They seem to never have movies I want to see.

A sad day. One of my heroes to be sure.

A true American hero. May he R. I. P.

RIP. He was one of the few people I'd call an American hero.

I, like quite a few of the brethren here, is of a vintage who grew up in the space age. Glenn's passing closes the book on the Mercury program, one of the most audacious feats of mankind. Glenn was also a crewmember of a shuttle flight when he was well into his seventies.
The right stuff indeed.
God speed.

Sad day. As a Buckeye boy growing up in the 50's and 60's, NASA was right up there with the USMC in hero heaven. The Lewis Research Center, now NASA's Glen Research Center, was right around the corner from home. In addition to being a real American hero, he was my Senator for 13 years. We'll 'not look upon his like again'.

garyg said:

Sad day. As a Buckeye boy growing up in the 50's and 60's, NASA was right up there with the USMC in hero heaven. The Lewis Research Center, now NASA's Glen Research Center, was right around the corner from home. In addition to being a real American hero, he was my Senator for 13 years. We'll 'not look upon his like again'.

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You're from Brook Park? I lived there from 1981 until 1986. I went to Midpark High (which has been rolled into Berea HS- gag me now )

oc_in_fw said:

You're from Brook Park? I lived there from 1981 until 1986. I went to Midpark High (which has been rolled into Berea HS- gag me now )

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The other direction - right across the valley in NO. I did work in Brook Park from 1976 to 1987.

Well said, gentlemen. Ditto to all the tributes to Senator Glenn.

For those who watch The Right Stuff, keep in mind it's the Hollywood version of the book. The book was accurate, but the movie took liberties. One scene in particular had Chuck Yeager livid: it shows him disobeying an order while attempting to break the speed of sound. Never happened, Yeager never disobeyed orders, and was critical of the movie because of it.

Great men, one and all.

Salute to you Mr Glenn. Thanks for the memories.