[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16466-16467]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING JOHN GLENN

  Mr. REID. Madam President, our Nation and the world lost a historic 
figure yesterday, a legend, John Glenn.
  As a relatively new Senator, I had the good fortune to take a trip 
with him. He led the trip with Ted Stevens of Alaska. It was a 
wonderful trip. We were in Austria. The Iron Curtain was down. We went 
into Czechoslovakia and had all the Russian soldiers checking the 
train. They had dogs.
  But around the world, everyone knew that John Glenn was leading that 
trip, and a number--three, to be exact--of the soldiers, when none of 
the others were looking, asked if he would autograph for them just a 
piece of paper

[[Page 16467]]

they had, and he did that. Everyplace we went, in Poland--we were all 
Senators, but there was only one John Glenn. Everyplace we went, he was 
beloved. He really was an icon.
  In reading the morning newspaper, I was disappointed it had a 
headline, John Glenn known for his space exploits. John Glenn was known 
for far more than that. Of course, he was our first to circumvent the 
globe. He told all of us he wore that space capsule, it was so small. 
In all the news last night, it showed him climbing into that. If you 
were claustrophobic, you could not get in that, it was so tight. He 
could reach out and touch both sides of it.
  Here this great aviator told me and whoever else was listening that 
when that came down in the ocean, if they had waited another minute to 
pick him up, he would have had to throw up. Here was a guy who never 
got sick any time, but he was getting sick then.
  I have so many fond memories of John Glenn. He was so nice to me, as 
he was nice to everyone. He was an ace in World War II, a fighter 
pilot. He was an ace in the Korean conflict. I think he had 90 missions 
there. This may upset some people, but it is a fact of war--war is 
tough. We were having a debate here on napalm, and someone asked John 
Glenn: Did you ever use that in World War II?
  He said: Yes, we did.
  When would you decide to drop your load?
  He said: When we could see the whites of the eyes on the people on 
the ground.
  That was John Glenn. He was so thoughtful of everyone else--but a 
soldier, a marine, a pilot. He held that record for flying across the 
United States faster than anyone else. He was known by far more than 
his space exploits. He served in the Senate for 24 years. In all the 
years I have been here, no one in the Senate had more respect than John 
Glenn.
  His story is legendary. He and Annie, who is a wonderful woman, knew 
each other when they were little kids, first and second graders. That 
was a love affair that was ongoing forever. To show the strength of 
this woman, we only had to look at what happened yesterday after John 
passed away. She is 96 years old, and she was worried about people 
coming to her home--with John having died and well-wishers coming--so 
she went grocery shopping so she would have food in her home when 
people came to visit.
  As a child, Annie was stricken with an inability to speak. She 
stammered so that no one could hear her--they could hear her, but they 
couldn't understand her. As she was growing up, John Glenn was her 
mouthpiece. He would take her phone calls because she couldn't talk on 
the phone, but she overcame that and became the Annie Glenn we all know 
who speaks very well.
  I am not going to go over the list of his many awards. The 
Distinguished Flying Cross is really a big deal in the military. He was 
awarded one six times.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a listing of the many 
awards he received, including the Congressional Gold Medal, be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Distinguished Flying Cross, six different times,
       Navy Unit Commendation for service in Korea,
       The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal,
       The American Campaign Medal,
       The World War II Victory Medal,
       The China Service Medal,
       The National Defense Service Medal,
       The Korean Service Medal,
       The United Nations Service Medal,
       The Korean Presidential Unit Citation,
       The Navy's Astronaut Wings,
       The Marine Corps' Astronaut Medal,
       The NASA Distinguished Service Medal,
       The Congressional Space Medal of Honor,
       The Congressional Gold Medal,
       and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

  Mr. REID. Madam President, after a quarter of a century, Senator 
Glenn left the Senate, and here is what he said: ``Yeah, I'll miss it, 
sure. But you move on to other things. That's it.''
  That was John Glenn. He moved on to other things.
  Until a couple of years ago, he flew his own airplane. When he was a 
Member of the Senate, he flew back to Columbus, OH. I think that is 
where he went. Every time he wanted to go, he didn't take commercial; 
he flew his own airplane.
  So I express my condolences to Annie. I admire the inspiration she 
has been to everybody who has ever known her. Of course, John Glenn, I 
repeat, is an icon of the Senate, an icon of the military, an icon of 
the space program, an icon in life, and a wonderful human being.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________