powerwashstencils
Member
I read this on Wikipedia about a year ago, after watching the "Right Stuff". This is what John Glenn did BEFORE ever going to NASA. He could have stopped there, and still gone down as an amazing American Hero! We've got these guys over in Iraq and Afghanistan today, those are the modern day heroes. We're lucky to have them!
Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio and raised in New Concord, Ohio. He studied chemistry at Muskingum College. Glenn received his private pilot's license as physics course credit at Muskingum in 1941. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. When the Army did not call him up, he enlisted as a United States Navy aviation cadet in March 1942 and was trained at Naval Air Station Olathe where he made his first solo flight in a military aircraft. During advanced training at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi he was reassigned to the United States Marine Corps in 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference">[1]</sup> During World War II he was originally assigned to VMJ-353 flying R4D transport planes but eventually managed a transfer to VMF-155 as an F4U Corsair pilot and flew in 59 combat missions.<sup id="cite_ref-Ahettle_1-0" class="reference">[2]</sup> He saw action over the Marshall Islands, specifically Maloelap, where he attacked anti-aircraft gunnery and dropped bombs. In 1945, Glenn was transferred to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland where he was promoted to captain by the war's end.
Following the war, as a member of VMF-218, Glenn flew patrol missions in North China, until his unit was moved to Guam. In 1948 he became a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Following that he attended amphibious warfare school and was given a staff assignment.
Glenn was finally assigned to VMF-311 flying the F9F Panther and eventually took part in 63 combat missions with the Marines during the Korean War. It was during this time that Glenn earned the nickname "Magnet Ass", for his ability to attract flak. On two occasions he brought his jet back to base with over 250 holes in it.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">[3]</sup> During his time in Korea, Glenn also served for a time alongside Ted Williams, a future hall of fame baseball player for the Boston Red Sox. On his second tour he flew with the United States Air Force on an interservice exchange. Flying 27 missions in the F-86 Sabre, he shot down three MiG-15s near the Yalu River in the last nine days of the war.
He returned to NAS Pax River, with an appointment to the Test Pilot School (class 12). As a test pilot, he served as armament officer, flying planes to high altitude and testing their cannon/machine guns. On July 16, 1957, Glenn completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight in a Vought F8U-1 Crusader. The flight from NAS Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York took 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds. As Glenn passed over his hometown, a child in the neighborhood reportedly ran to the Glenn house shouting "Johnny dropped a bomb! Johnny dropped a bomb! Johnny dropped a bomb!" as the sonic boom shook the town. Project Bullet, as the mission was called, provided both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed (despite three in-flight refuelings during which speeds dropped below 300 mph), and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States. Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the mission.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">[4]</sup>
Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio and raised in New Concord, Ohio. He studied chemistry at Muskingum College. Glenn received his private pilot's license as physics course credit at Muskingum in 1941. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. When the Army did not call him up, he enlisted as a United States Navy aviation cadet in March 1942 and was trained at Naval Air Station Olathe where he made his first solo flight in a military aircraft. During advanced training at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi he was reassigned to the United States Marine Corps in 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference">[1]</sup> During World War II he was originally assigned to VMJ-353 flying R4D transport planes but eventually managed a transfer to VMF-155 as an F4U Corsair pilot and flew in 59 combat missions.<sup id="cite_ref-Ahettle_1-0" class="reference">[2]</sup> He saw action over the Marshall Islands, specifically Maloelap, where he attacked anti-aircraft gunnery and dropped bombs. In 1945, Glenn was transferred to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland where he was promoted to captain by the war's end.
Following the war, as a member of VMF-218, Glenn flew patrol missions in North China, until his unit was moved to Guam. In 1948 he became a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Following that he attended amphibious warfare school and was given a staff assignment.
Glenn was finally assigned to VMF-311 flying the F9F Panther and eventually took part in 63 combat missions with the Marines during the Korean War. It was during this time that Glenn earned the nickname "Magnet Ass", for his ability to attract flak. On two occasions he brought his jet back to base with over 250 holes in it.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">[3]</sup> During his time in Korea, Glenn also served for a time alongside Ted Williams, a future hall of fame baseball player for the Boston Red Sox. On his second tour he flew with the United States Air Force on an interservice exchange. Flying 27 missions in the F-86 Sabre, he shot down three MiG-15s near the Yalu River in the last nine days of the war.
He returned to NAS Pax River, with an appointment to the Test Pilot School (class 12). As a test pilot, he served as armament officer, flying planes to high altitude and testing their cannon/machine guns. On July 16, 1957, Glenn completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight in a Vought F8U-1 Crusader. The flight from NAS Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York took 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds. As Glenn passed over his hometown, a child in the neighborhood reportedly ran to the Glenn house shouting "Johnny dropped a bomb! Johnny dropped a bomb! Johnny dropped a bomb!" as the sonic boom shook the town. Project Bullet, as the mission was called, provided both the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed (despite three in-flight refuelings during which speeds dropped below 300 mph), and the first continuous transcontinental panoramic photograph of the United States. Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the mission.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">[4]</sup>
