Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-02-20
CAPE CANAVERAL,


Feb. 20 (AP) Lit. Col. John
Herschel Glenn, jr., today kept
a personal date with destiny,
a date toward which he had
worked unswervingly for a long
time.
In all ways since his selec-
ton as a Mercury astronaut
three years ago, Col. Glenn
drove himself hard-dedicated
and determined to ride into
space and contribute to mans
knowledge.
So far as anyone could tell,
nothing could corrode his iron
nerve. All those postponements,
including the heartbreaker of
January q, when he spent S
hours and IS minutes strapped
down in a capsule that wasn't
going anywhere, could have I'M
hinged a lesser man. But not
Col. Glenn.
Modesty also stood out all
over Col. Glenn's makeup dur
ing his long training. In vain,
he pleaded with the world to
take the spotlight off him and
his family and focus it on the
worthwhile things to be done,
and learned, up there in the
skies.
Why was Col. Glenn, fam
lily man with two children, will
ing to risk his life in a space
capsule whirling about the
globe at 1880 miles an hour?
We've got to do it," he once
said. Were going into an age
of exploration that will be big
ger than anything the world
has ever seen.
Control Over Destiny
People are afraid of the flu
ture, of the unknown. If man
faces up to it and takes the
dare of the future, he can have
some control over his destiny.
That's an exciting idea to me,
better than waiting to see what's
going to happen"
Col. Glenn, a balding 40
year-old Marine officer, wanted
desperately to be the first
American space pilot. But he
lost the call on the first two
flights to Comdr. Alan B. Shep-
ard, jr., and Capt. Virgil l..
(Gus) Grissom. For each of
these brief suborbital flights,
Col. Glenn was the backup
astronaut. ready too step in if
something happened to the
prime pilot.
He rated his backup expert
ence, in which he worked closely
with Comdr. Shepard and
Capt. Grissom for weeks before
each flight, as invaluable for
his round-the-world orbit mis-
sion.
Also invaluable was his ex-
perience as a combat pilot in
World War II and in Korea.
He shot down three Communist
MIG fighters in the final days
of the Korean war, and after
one dogfight returned to base
with more than 200 bullet holes
in his plane. He wone five dis
tinguished Flying Crosses and
an Air Medal with 10 clusters.
After the war, he became a
top-rate test pilot.
Experience in dangerous and
unexpected situations is even
more valuable than good con-
ditioning," Col. Glenn said. IF
you have successfully controlled
your airplane in an emergency,
or dealt with an enemy whose
prime object is to destroy you,
your chances of making the
proper decision the next time
are increased"
In every possible way, Col.
Glenn drove himself hard to
prepare for space flight.
Worried about his weight soon
after his selection as an as
tronaut, Col. Glenn regimented
his diet and exercise and
Skinned down from 1875 pounds
to a muscular 165.
Always very close to his fam
lily, Col. Glenn nevertheless de-
cided early that the Mercury
program was so important he
would live in bachelor quarters
at Langley Air Force Base, Va,
seeing his wife and two chill
dren only on week ends. The
wife, Anne, David, Is, and
Carolyn. IA. live in a comfort
able home in Arlington, Va.
Studied Alone
"I thing it's pood for John to