Hysterical Journey to Historic Places

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JOHN GLENN



John tried to join the Army Air Corps in 1942 but they dawdled too long in calling him up to an aviation cadet program so he joined the Navy instead. He completed his advanced pilot training at Corpus Christi, Texas in 1943 as a Marine and was assigned to VMJ 353 flying the R4D transport. The R4D was the Navy version of the venerable Douglas C-47. It was important work no doubt, but John was better suited for a more aggressive combat role. His application to fighters was approved and in 1944 he went to VMF-155 flying the F-4U Corsair in the Marshall Islands. VMF-155 was commanded by Joe Foss, the leading Marine Corps Ace. John flew 59 missions with them primarily in a ground attack role. By that stage in the war the Jap carrier force had been decimated and encounters with Jap ground based fighters were uncommon. John did not score a single aerial victory during the entire war. After the war John remained with the Marines and transitioned to fighters. During the Korean War he served a tour with VMF-311 flying the F-9F Panther. Once again they primarily flew ground attack missions because the Panther was poorly suited for aerial combat against the speedier and more nimble Russian Mig. John’s wingman during those missions was the Red Sox slugger, Ted Williams. Part of John’s responsibility was to try and keep Ted out of trouble. Ted wasn’t much of a pilot. During WWII he joined the Navy Reserve and became a Marine pilot but never flew a combat mission. He was an exhibition baseball player. During the Korean War he was recalled from the inactive reserves, but had to be dragged off kicking and screaming from the Red Sox. Flying combat missions made him airsick and he was eventually grounded, which broke nobody’s heart. John Glenn flew 63 combat missions in the Panther, completed his tour, but still had not scored a single aerial victory in either war. Back stateside John applied to the inter-service exchange program and got a temporary assignment to the Air Force back to Korea with the 4th Fighter Wing. The Air Force was restricted from flying missions across the Yalu River, but that was a sure way to draw Mig pilots into the air for combat. American pilots who violated the Yalu River policy to engage communist pilots were known as being “Mig Mad”. John named his F-86 the “Mig Mad Marine” and he finally scored three aerial victories in 27 missions before the truce was called ending hostilities. After the Korean War John became a Marine test pilot and in 1957 made the first transcontinental supersonic flight from California to New York flying the Vought F-8 Crusader. The flight took 3 hours and 27 minutes and included two aerial refueling at 300 mph. In 1962 John entered the Mercury Program and became an astronaut. He was the fifth man to fly into outer space and the first American to go into Earth orbit. As an astronaut John designed the layout for many of the pilot’s controls used in the Mercury and Apollo capsules. After he retired from NASA he entered politics and served four terms as United States Senator from Ohio as chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and twice sought nomination on the Vice Presidential ticket. His political career was marred by implication with the Keating Savings and Loan Scandal. In 1998, at age 77, he blasted off into space again on a shuttle mission lasting 127 orbits. There is just no stopping the man. John currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. I hope he and Chuck Yeager will live forever.

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Photos

JOHN GLENN
The photo shows a diecast model in 48 scale of the
F-86 Sabrejet flown by John Glenn as a Marine Pilot in the Air Force. Robert Mitchum starred in a Korean War movie called "The Hunters". It is full of great aerial photography showing what a nifty plane the
F-86 was. There are still a few of them left in flying condition. They are popular attractions chasing Mig 13s around air shows all over the country.