In March 1942, John Glenn enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet. Transferring to the U.S. Marine Corps during his flight training, Glenn served in Marine squadron VMO-155 after graduating from flight school in March 1943. Assigned to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, Glenn flew 59 combat missions and sustained damage to his F4U Corsair by anti-aircraft fire on five occasions. Promoted to captain by the end of the war, he remained in the military as a Marine pilot, served as an instructor in advanced flight training, and became known as “MiG Mad Marine”. Beginning in 1954, Glenn served as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland.

In 1959, Glenn was selected by NASA as one of the “Mercury Seven,” the group of military test pilots who would become America’s first astronauts. On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth person in space. Glenn retired from the Marine Corps as a full colonel in December 1964. He holds the Air Medal with 18 Clusters and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on six occasions. From 1974 to 1999, Glenn served as a United States Senator from Ohio. He is the recipient of numerous other honors, including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.