KngShisa
New member
As you may have heard, John Glenn passed away today. This man was the embodiment of an American Hero. Marine veteran, early space pioneer and astronaut.
One thing I didn't know was that when running for Senator in 1974, his opponent tried to use the anti-war sentiment of the time to degrade Glenn during a debate, who had spent a good part of his life in the USMC. His opponent said that he "had never met a payroll", referring to the fact that he spent his entire life as a Marine, then working for NASA. His offhand response was perfect:
"I spent 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I lived through two wars. I flew 149 missions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, it was my life that was on the line.
You go with me as I did out to a veterans' hospital and look those men with their mangled bodies in the eye and tell them that they didn't hold a job. You go with me to any Gold Star mother and you look her in the eye and you tell her that her son did not hold a job. You go to Arlington National Cemetery — where I have more friends than I'd like to remember — and you think about this nation, and you tell me that those people didn't have a job.
I tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men, some men, who held a job. And they required a dedication to purpose, a love of country, and a dedication to duty that was more important than life itself.
And their self-sacrifice is what has made this nation possible.
I have held a job, Howard."
Rest in Peace, Hero. Your legend lives on forever.
One thing I didn't know was that when running for Senator in 1974, his opponent tried to use the anti-war sentiment of the time to degrade Glenn during a debate, who had spent a good part of his life in the USMC. His opponent said that he "had never met a payroll", referring to the fact that he spent his entire life as a Marine, then working for NASA. His offhand response was perfect:
"I spent 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I lived through two wars. I flew 149 missions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, it was my life that was on the line.
You go with me as I did out to a veterans' hospital and look those men with their mangled bodies in the eye and tell them that they didn't hold a job. You go with me to any Gold Star mother and you look her in the eye and you tell her that her son did not hold a job. You go to Arlington National Cemetery — where I have more friends than I'd like to remember — and you think about this nation, and you tell me that those people didn't have a job.
I tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men, some men, who held a job. And they required a dedication to purpose, a love of country, and a dedication to duty that was more important than life itself.
And their self-sacrifice is what has made this nation possible.
I have held a job, Howard."
Rest in Peace, Hero. Your legend lives on forever.
