Snyder Directs Flags To Half-Staff Until John Glenn Burial

I doubt if anyone of age in 1962 can forget the heart-stopping moment when Glenn’s capsule lost communication because he was entering Earth’s atmosphere and the cone of fire that was enveloping Friendship 7. “And that’s who John Glenn was”, said Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana at Friday’s ceremony, according to local news outlets. “And he is going to be greatly, greatly missed”, Cabana said. “I’m thinking, God, they’ve all gone”, said Tribe. He added: “It just strengthens my faith”.

Then, Russia launched Yuri Gagarin, the first man ever in space, in 1961, and his survival took some concern away from the USA crew. “A man as old as the pope is now orbiting the world”. John Glenn has died in Ohio.

Annie, his wife of 73 years survives him, along with a daughter, Lyn, a son, David, two grandsons and a great-grandson. It was a scary time for Americans, but the Mercury men, with their swagger and big grins, projected a confidence that we could share. “It wasn’t just an accident”.

GLENN: No one image. I didn’t like that decision made by a previous administration when they chose to start a new mission that sounds great. And then I’ve recalled it so often since then I think that it’s a – it’s remained very vivid over the past 50 years, seems to me like about a week or two instead of 50 years.

After leaving NASA, Glenn became a US senator, representing his home state of Ohio. He served four terms before retiring in 1999. He also served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Armed Services Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging.

Then a scant year after being introduced to America’s astronauts, on April 12, 1961, Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in one hour 48 minutes.

Glenn’s comment saying “that was some fireball” came as a huge relief to us all, especially the fact that he was so calm and matter-of-fact.

NASA immediately posted a tribute on its website to the space hero after his death was announced.

The Canadian Space Agency tweeted its condolences to Glenn’s family.

The lowering of the flags was authorized by President Barack Obama. The event took place at an outdoor stage beneath a white Mount Rushmore-esque sculpture depicting the Mercury 7.

“Throughout his life, Senator John Glenn embodied the right stuff”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement. For six times, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Born in OH in 1921, Glenn fought in the Pacific during World War Two – and later in Korea.

That mission also introduced Glenn to politics. Glenn’s energy and attitude were no different in 2012, when at age 90 he returned to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center for a celebration of the Mercury mission’s 50th anniversary.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete December 9.

Glenn was married to his childhood sweetheart, Anna Margaret Castor, who he Wednesday in 1943.

The John Glenn role model fits what numerous young men and and women at Vance Air Force Base aspire to be – pioneering aviator turned public servant, someone who truly made a difference in our world.