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John Glenn: from MiG Killer to Oldest Man in Space
Unto the Breach ^ | 29 October 2019 | Chris Carter

Posted on 10/29/2019 6:05:09 PM PDT by fugazi

If you had to name the ten most-famous Americans ever, who would be on your list? Better yet: if you could go back in time with any of them and have a beer, who would you pick? John Glenn would have to be at the top of my list. He flew combat missions in World War II and Korea, flew alongside baseball great Ted Williams, was one of the original Mercury astronauts, the first American to orbit the earth, was a politician, ran for president, then became the oldest man in space. Man, wouldn't you just kill to hear some of those stories?

The following pages feature historic photos of John H. Glenn Jr., some you might have seen, some you haven't. Hopefully you enjoy reading this slideshow as much as we did writing it.

Maj. Glenn's fighter took so much damage from enemy fire that his fellow aviators nicknamed him "Magnet Ass." Here he stands in front of the F-86 Sabre which he used to kill three enemy MiG-15s. Between World War II and Korea, Glenn flew 149 combat missions and was hit 12 different times. On two occasions, his plane returned with over 250 holes.


Maj. Glenn after scoring his third -- and final -- victory of the Korean War on 23 July 1953. The Marine aviator was temporarily assigned to the Air Force's 25th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, at Suwon (K-13) Air Base in South Korea.

Glenn's North American Aviation F-86F-30-NA Sabre (serial no. 52-4584) at Suwon, 1953. He had the names of his family (daughter Lyn, wife...

(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: corruption; crook; keating; keating5; keatingfive; militaryhistory; traitor; treason
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To: fugazi

He bumped others to ride then shuttle. He had no business doing that. I told him that to his face.


41 posted on 10/29/2019 7:44:13 PM PDT by isthisnickcool (Say what you will about The Donald, but he has all the right enemies.)
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To: Vineyard
"John Glenn disgusts me. He was a great war hero - but then he..."

got captured, and ultimately became the asshole as we remember him.

42 posted on 10/29/2019 8:32:22 PM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: fugazi

It was his political connection that got him on that shuttle flight.

The person who should have been on that flight was Chuck Yeager, a WWII ace, test pilot, who pioneered upper atmospheric flight, broke the sound barrier, built the base line for the Mercury 7.

He wasn’t flashy enough for them to make him an astronaut, but at the time they picked Glenn, he was still qualified and flying jet aircraft, and older than Glenn.

Don’t tell me his politics didn’t have anything to do with picking him.


43 posted on 10/29/2019 9:50:50 PM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Keating Five.


Had we had a decent presss, the Keating Five scandal would have ended the political careers of John Glenn and John McCain.
44 posted on 10/29/2019 10:14:30 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (Please, oh pretty please let Crazy Uncle Joe Biden be the nominee.)
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To: fugazi

F 86 was one of my dads birds


45 posted on 10/29/2019 10:18:18 PM PDT by wardaddy (I applaud Jim Robinson for his comments on the Southern Monuments decision ...thank you)
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To: fugazi
”... But I won’t throw out a truly remarkable story of a man who gave years of his life for our country because of his politics...”

I readily do that with Benedict Arnold. I long ago had to do that with John Glenn, and that was a painful thing for me.

I generally like your threads, but don’t think this one will fly.

46 posted on 10/30/2019 2:25:15 AM PDT by rlmorel (Trump to China: This Capitalist Will Not Sell You the Rope with Which You Will Hang Us.)
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To: fugazi

John Glenn once said that Ted Williams was the best combat fighter pilot he ever saw.

A very interesting claim, but since Glenn ran for President a couple times, he might have said it before the Massachusetts Primary.

Off topic, but interesting....

Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Jack Nicklaus all actively used “swing visualization” before each pitch or golf stroke.

Each one also said he began doing that as a child before he ever heard someone talk about it.

Nowadays, visualization is a part of coaching in almost every sport.

But, it’s a cool coincidence that three of the greatest ball strikers of all time each “discovered” it on his own.


47 posted on 10/30/2019 3:04:41 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: fugazi
Winfield Scott....

I had to refresh memory on that choice.

According to Wiki, he became a Brigadier General in 1814, at age 27, and he became a Lieutenant General in 1855, the first one since George Washington.

He retired in 1861 (after the Union lost the First Battle of Bull Run).

I will guess that Scott was the only American to hold General rank for 47 years!

He also sought the Whig Presidential nomination four times, won it in 1852, but lost in the general election.

48 posted on 10/30/2019 3:43:04 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: fugazi
Glenn filibustered a Senate hearing because he knew Clinton was engaging in treason with the Chinese. Thus, Glenn participated in "selling" guidance systems to the Chicoms because he did everything he could to prevent the truth from being exposed because he wanted to go back to space. Clinton gave them that ticket to space, so Glenn is not just a democrat, he is an arrogant, narcissistic partner-in-crime.

"John Glenn was an honorable man, a true American hero. A Marine, one of America’s first astronauts, the first American to ride a rocket into earth orbit at a time when our rockets had the nasty habit of routinely blowing up in people’s faces. His bravery, his patriotism, his honor were above reproach and beyond question. Until Bill Clinton came to town.

And in a few short years this bona fide hero has transformed himself into nothing more than a party hack, in service to monumental presidential corruption. Once a man throws his honor on the trash heap, it can never be reclaimed. And Glenn is not alone among democrats compromising their integrity to protect Bill Clinton. As for the media, which has instituted a virtual news blackout in which live coverage is nonexistent and then whines that nobody cares, which ignores crimes, espionage, and possible treason, and shamelessly peddles the democrat line that “the system is broken”, their ethics and principles in this matter are beneath contempt. As usual. The media see these hearings as their chance to enact “reform” which will enhance their power even further, and subversion of our government and treason in high office is of no interest. The integrity of our government and safety of the nation ranks below their self-aggrandizement."

49 posted on 10/30/2019 3:56:54 AM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians)
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To: rlmorel

I have to tell you, this was painful for me to have to reach this conclusion many years ago that John Glenn...John Glenn was a leftist political hack.

I don’t say that because he was a Democrat, I say that because of the things others have said on here.

I used to think Scoop Jackson and Harry Truman were worthy of admiration, but I have found over the years that both of them, at a critical point in our nation’s history, put the well-being of the Democrat Party before the well-being of the Republic, and I find that appalling.

John Glenn did the same thing, and I take no pleasure in saying that.


50 posted on 10/30/2019 4:16:07 AM PDT by rlmorel (Trump to China: This Capitalist Will Not Sell You the Rope with Which You Will Hang Us.)
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To: Leaning Right

Sounds remarkably like what the demonratscumbagterrorists did to Charlotte when they held the 2016 commie convention there. Skipped out on the Bills. But the demonratscumbagterrorists that run Charlotte didn’t care. They probably got the taxpayer’s to pay for it.


51 posted on 10/30/2019 6:12:57 AM PDT by mabarker1 ((Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress !!!!)
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To: fugazi

The problem with Glenn is, he started as a JFK-type Democrat, but allowed the swamp to corrupt him. The Keating Five scandal — where he was associated with another corrupt POS John McCain — only served to drag him irrevocably into the hole and compromised him forever.

My father was a very connected NASA official during the ‘60s and early ‘70s, and I got to meet John Glenn as a child. I idolized him back then, but no more.


52 posted on 10/30/2019 6:19:02 AM PDT by Magnatron
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To: Magnatron

One story I head about John Glenn when he decided to get into politics was how he decided what party to adhere to. (Glenn was old-school military publically apolitical until retirement.) The story goes as follows, he offered himself to the Ohio GOP (Rhode’s Organization) they were disinterested. Glenn then offered himself to the Ohio democrat party & the rest is history.

I have no idea if its true but I heard it from a lot of WV GOP’ers. (Friends of my father.)


53 posted on 10/30/2019 6:32:30 AM PDT by Reily
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To: Reily

publically = publicly.


54 posted on 10/30/2019 6:38:16 AM PDT by Reily
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To: RJS1950

Yeager openly looked down his nose at the NACA fliers that became our first astronauts. Decades later, he said that people had advocated for him to take a flight on the shuttle, but he saw no value in it.


55 posted on 10/30/2019 7:02:51 AM PDT by M1903A1 ("We shed all that is good and virtuous for that which is shoddy and sleazy...and call it progress")
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Comment #56 Removed by Moderator


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