Former Astronaut John Glenn Dead At 95

Discussion in 'In the News' started by Gary Ridenour, Dec 8, 2016.

  1. Gary Ridenour

    Gary Ridenour Veteran Member
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    John Glenn, the all-American astronaut and senator who rocketed into history on flights 36 years apart as the first American to orbit the Earth and the oldest person in space, died Thursday, Dec. 8 at age 95.

    Glenn, who was known for his small-town decency and calm heroics, was the last of the original Mercury 7 astronauts who launched the US space program. He later served for nine years as a Democratic senator from Ohio.

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  2. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    Former senator John Glenn, an American war hero who went on to become the first astronaut to orbit the Earth, has passed away at the age of 95.

    Glenn passed away on Thursday afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, over a week after he was first hospitalized for an unknown illness.

    Glenn is survived by his wife of 73 years, Annie; his son John Glenn Jr.; his daughter Carolyn; and his grandchildren.


    During World War II, he flew missions in the South Pacific, where he took part in combat as a Marine Corps pilot.

    Glenn also did two tours of combat duty in the Korean War.

    He flew a total of 149 combat missions in those two wars, earning him numerous citations and medals for valor.

    Following his career in the military, Glenn passed rigorous requirement exams to become an astronaut for NASA.

    On February 20, 1962, he made history by becoming the first American to orbit the earth, circling the globe three times aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft as part of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission.

    Glenn was also the third American and the fifth man to enter space.

    For his feat, Glenn met then-President John F. Kennedy and was honored with a ticker-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes in New York City.

    After retiring as an astronaut, Glenn entered politics, successfully running as a Democrat for the senate seat from Ohio.

    He served as senator for 25 years before his retirement in 1999.

    In 1998, he made history once again by becoming the oldest person ever in space.

    Glenn successfully lobbied NASA to serve as payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery, though his primary motive was to contribute to the study of space’s effect on geriatrics.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ut-John-Glenn-dies-aged-95.html#ixzz4SHXZf8DT

    What an amazing man. he achieved more in one lifetime than most of us could achieve in several... R.I.P!! forever remembered in History.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I merged the two threads.
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    He had the right stuff, for sure! I remember reading about babies being born that day he circled the earth, who where named after him! ....even a girl....named Jonna Glyn Morse!:D
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Honey Gee

    Honey Gee Veteran Member
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    Awh how sad a well respected man from my youth. RIP John .
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    He was indeed a great man, and performed wonderful service to his country. Until he entered politics. Glenn, along with 4 other very prominent politicians, became known as the "Keating Five", a group which offered to shore-up the Savings & Loan institution headed by Charles H. Keating, Jr., a fiasco which ultimately cost the U.S. taxpayers $3 Billion dollars, landed indictments of all five, and put Keating himself, supposedly highly religious, and a self-proclaimed hero of "Moral Cleanliness" who worked to destroy the porn industry, in prison.

    Glenn and McCain, two of the greats of the era, went on to be re-elected. Maybe they were well-intentioned, maybe not, because everyone knew Keating was a crook who could almost be likened to be an early Donald Trump, who of course, while filing several company bankruptcies, never filed a personal one.

    Now, tar and feather me for mentioning the era........but consider the fact that a great proportion of the 23,000 bondholders who lost their life savings, were retirees like us.

    "The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators – Alan Cranston (Democrat of California), Dennis DeConcini (Democrat of Arizona), John Glenn (Democrat of Ohio), John McCain (Republican of Arizona), and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democrat of Michigan) – were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

    Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed in 1989, at a cost of over $3 billion to the federal government. Some 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded and many investors lost their life savings."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
     
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  7. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Frank, the man is dead!
     
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  8. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Keating Five

    "Senators Glenn and McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment".
     
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  9. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Joe Riley
    True, that, Joe. How would I know if any other member knows of these past activities.

    In my experience, I have heard over and over, after a person dies, how good that person was in life, no matter the degree of truth in such declaration. Dead, or not dead, anyone involved in the embezzlement of innocents' life savings, deserves no more respect DEAD than they did in life.

    Tell me why they should? I suppose it should simply be forgotten? Ask any of those thousands of folks whose savings were wiped out. Did you read the link? The millions of dollars accepted by Glenn? From Keating? Worse yet, that Keating was released from prison very early thanks to Bill Clinton?

    Tell me why I should allow DEATH to relieve DISHONOR?

    Frank
     
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  10. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Joe Riley

    Come on, Joe! Let's get real about this. Take millions of dollars from a man criminally embezzling it from the public, a phony court proceeding exonerates the beneficiaries, and you actually believe it was truly a case of "poor judgment"? Your own aura of intellectual capacity strongly suggests that ain't possible. Sure, I'm sorry he died. I'm sure he did a lot of good for the constituents he represented over the years. But I simply cannot turn a blind eye to the obvious.

    You, of all the folks here, I don't want a pissing match with. Forgive my openness for a moment. I rarely fight back over issues like this. I see things in no shades of gray; a murderer for example is either guilty or innocent. No halfway stance. Perhaps that's part of my own personal mis-directed make-up. I live with it, have stood firm in many issues over the years, accepted the error of my ways often enough to think I am not too biased.

    But, I cannot yield ground to any individual who, in death, is relegated to the realm of National Hero by the Press, given his involvement in the gruesome pain inflicted on his own constituents, the very people who implicitly trusted him, elected and re-elected him, and then suffered extreme personal loss while his close family survivors enjoy the fruits of his years in office, IOW, MONEY.

    Frank
     
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  11. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Keating Five

    "During the 2000s, several retrospective accounts of the controversy reiterated the contention that McCain was included in the investigation primarily so that there would be at least one Republican target. Glenn's inclusion in the investigation has been attributed to Republicans who were angered by the inclusion of McCain, as well as committee members who thought that dropping Glenn (and McCain) would make it look bad for the remaining three Democratic Senators".
     
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  12. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    "God's speed, John Glenn"!
     
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  13. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    John and Annie Glenn

    "It must have been difficult on his wife, Annie Glenn (maiden name, Castor). To ease her fear, before each mission Glenn would utter the same words:

    “I’m just going down to the corner store to get a pack of gum.”

    “Don’t be long,” she would always respond.

    He said it before he was propelled into space on Feb. 20, 1962, to become the first American to orbit the Earth. Years later, in 1998 when John — a man possessing an “otherworldly spirit” — would exit Earth’s gravitational pull at 77 years old, for the final time, they repeated the dialogue.

    [John Glenn survived space and celebrity — and still had a great marriage]

    This time, he slipped her the perfect coda — a pack of gum — which she kept in a breast pocket until he returned to earth".

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    A little known story in the life of John Glenn. When he flew with Charles Lindbergh.
    [​IMG]
    "Not long after that meeting at the White House, I visited the National Air and Space Museum. In the same room are two great physical icons: Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and John Glenn’s Mercury space capsule". - Bill Flanagan
     
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    Last edited: Dec 12, 2016
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