John Glenn; A Hero for the Ages

By T. R. Shaw, Jr.

            New Year’s Eve has always been bittersweet.  It represents the end of another year; another trip around the sun, that we humans measure in our lives by.  It’s sad because we may not have accomplished all we wanted to.  A New Year offers hope, new challenges and excitement that the next year will be even greater.

            Annually, media outlets look back on the famous and infamous people we’ve lost in the past year.  We honor and recognize high profile public life.  Some we profoundly mourn, others not so much.

            Many of those departed celebrities touched us in various ways.  Some through music, the movies and pop culture; others through bold leadership and courageous acts.  Some deaths were expected, some were tragic, but they’ve all left their mark on us.

            On December 8, 2016 we lost John Glenn, my first true American hero growing up.   I was astounded to realize he was 95 years old.  It seemed he was immortal.

            Glenn was one of the original “Mercury 7” Astronauts, all of whom deserve hero status.  While he was the third American in space, he became the first to orbit the earth on February 20, 1962 in Friendship 7, taking the first bold step into space exploration.

            If you’ve never seen the movie The Right Stuff, based on the book by Tom Wolfe which chronicles our first steps in space I urge you do so.  The film takes a little literary and comedic license and won four Academy Awards.  I watched it again the night Glenn died, it was my way of mourning.  Glenn definitely had The Right Stuff!

            While Alan Shepard became the first American into space and Gordon Cooper was the last to fly solo completing 22 orbits in the Mercury program, it was Glenn who captured the world’s attention and became the best known representative of America’s space program. He was the hero we needed at the time.

            In the post-World War II Cold War era with the Soviet Union, America was in a heated “space race” with the goal of gaining the high ground of outer space and the moon.  President John F. Kennedy didn’t mince words when he declared we are going to the moon before the decade was over and we did.  His admonition created and inspired a generation of achievers, thinkers, and doers like no other generation before them.  Going to the moon became a “Team America” effort which touched hundreds of industries and disciplines.  The Mercury 7 astronauts were the “new pioneers” in a dangerous and complex effort to explore the unknown.

 

Glenn, a decorated Marine, “All-American” combat and test pilot from WWII and Korea, became the charismatic face of America’s greatest venture.  Glenn was an inspiration to a new generation of Americans, including the present NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden who followed in his footsteps.  Bolden graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968, became a Marine aviator and test pilot like Glenn and eventually made his way into the Astronaut corps flying four Space Shuttle Missions, one of which launched the Hubble Telescope.  In 2009 Bolden became the first Astronaut and African-American, to head NASA and is presently laying the ground work to “Occupy Mars.”

            Following his space career, Glenn entered politics and represented his home state of Ohio as a U. S. Senator.  His political career included a great deal of political sparring and an unsuccessful bid for President, but it would have likely tarnished his image as an American Hero.

            In his final act of courage, Glenn became the oldest human to fly in space in October 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery at the age of 77.  While some ridiculed it as a publicity stunt and political favor, it was a fitting tribute to America’s Astronaut and the pinnacle of an amazing career and life, solidifying his place in history.

            One commentator recently, said there will never be an American hero greater than John Glenn.  I’ve got to agree.  While others have made great contributions to our society and mankind, Glenn will always be known as America’s Astronaut and true pioneer.  He set the standard of what an astronaut and hero should be and lived his life accordingly.

The world needs more John Glenn’s in the future.  Those with the courage and vision to face danger and explore the cosmos.  Space is not the Final Frontier!

            Godspeed John Glenn, your Mission is complete!

T. R. Shaw Jr. is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek, Michigan.