John Glenn, Dies at 95

One of my all time heroes. I knew about him due to my obsession with the Space Race as a kid. I had to see most of this in books but my Dad says I saw the landing on the Moon but I was only 4 at the time. But John Glen had the 'right stuff' and comes from a time when this kind of heroism was celebrated. He was the first American to orbit the Earth in his Friendship 7 craft. As you can see from the movie clip, his return to Earth wasn't a foregone conclusion. He had to abort his planned orbits and re-enter the earth because of a sensor light indicating that his heat shield may be loose or not work as intended during re-entry. He had to manually pilot the craft back to Earth. Fortunately he survived.

 

An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus after a remarkably healthy life spent almost from the cradle with Annie, his beloved wife of 73 years, who survives.