John Glenn John Glenn Colonel John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio. Before joining NASA, Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, China and Korea. He shot down three MiG-15s, and was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen Air Medals. In 1957, he made the first supersonic transcontinental
Gary Glenn coalition, which launched the successful effort to enact similar legislation in that state. In 2015, the National Right to Work Committee named Glenn the recipient of its highest honor, the Senator Everett M. Dirksen Award, for a lifetime of achievement and commitment to the principle of individual freedom in the workplace. Glenn enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves during the Persian Gulf War buildup in 1990 and served eight years in the Reserves and Army National Guard, including with the 1460th Transportation Company headquartered in Midland. He was named Honor Graduate of both Basic Combat Training at Ft. Sill, Ok.,