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I think that maybe one of the reasons

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that we became edit it

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I'm I don't want to be too presumptive I

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consider him a friend

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I think he considered me a friend we

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talked often from the time i came into

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the astronaut office you know the thing

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the big thing about about being in the

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astronaut office was it you came into

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this incredible fraternity John Glenn

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was among the first people that I met

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because he would come back like like all

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the astronauts for their their annual

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physicals each year and as a Marine he

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would kind of seek us out and in do a

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little mentoring and a little coaching

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and a little pepping up and everything

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and wishes the best and so that was sort

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of the beginning of what developed into

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for me when I heard that John was going

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to have an opportunity to fly first of

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all I was jealous because i had left the

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Marines had left the the astronaut

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office and return to the operating

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forces of the Marine Corps and at the

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time that he flew I was actually in

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Japan in Tokyo Japan at Yokota Air Base

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I was the deputy commander of US forces

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in Japan and you may say well what the

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heck does that mean John Glenn's

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airplane that he had flown when he was

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on an exchange tour with 50 air force at

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Yokota Air Base stood on a pedestal

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right there and so I got to see it every

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day when I came in and out and he

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happened to have flown with shock him

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Kai so not only was there this

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connection of John Glenn to Japan and

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the people of Japan and specifically to

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your code airbase but the shiitake who

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was on another very close friend and I

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remember when Steve Lindsey shockey John

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the crew came over to Tokyo to do their

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you know their visit their post-flight

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visits they were swamped they were

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mobbed by people

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ee because not only did they have their

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their own Japanese Hiro when but they

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had this icon of spaceflight in in

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senator john glenn he was 77 I think you

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may remember the time and that began

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this contest between Jonathan and me

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when I told him how jealous I was and he

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said ok you can fly again but not until

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you turn 77 so I'm 70 years old today

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not today but I'm I'm 70 years old at

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this time and and his he knows he's

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still got me because I gotta wait seven

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his friendship 7 flight put America back

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into the space not to minimize anything

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that had been done you know bye bye bye

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Alan Shepard her or any of the the two

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flights before him but when when John

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flew we were going to orbit the Earth we

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were going to granted it was we were

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second but that wasn't important for the

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United States we were going to

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demonstrate that we were just as good if

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not better than our our adversary at the

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time the whole world watched and the

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whole world hero held their collective

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breath and it was just it was very

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special for the nation to have to have

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John gland become the first American who

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elevated our planet and and was then

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able to talk about it no question he

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became a national hero never flew again

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because the president wouldn't let him

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fly

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he was so valuable to the nation as this

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iconic figure that we just did not want

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to risk putting him back in space again

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which did not please him but but John

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you know is a typical marine he says ok

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I didn't talk to the senator Graham

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before the flight but afterwards I had

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quite a few opportunities particularly

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in japan as we kind of reminiscent and

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we talked about what it was like then

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when he lived in Japan you know during

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the Korean War and now while I was

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living there some decades later and

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anyhoo I had not known before this but

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John was so typical he didn't talk at

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all about himself he didn't talk about

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the flight he talked about he always

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talked about the importance of we've

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gotta get kids interested in this stuff

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again we've got to get them interested

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in science and and math and technology

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and I think some of the statements that

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you see that people remember most from

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John Glenn the senator and and post

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senator when he went back and founded

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the you know the the space the policy

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institute on the campus of the ohio

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state university he was focused on

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educating America's youth to keep us the

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the thing I don't want anybody to miss

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about about senator Glenn Johnson and

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Colonel Glen astronaut glad it doesn't

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make any difference what you say the

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love of his life with anything in there

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no just to see the two of them together

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the way they looked at each other

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I mean for for anybody who's

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contemplating marriage Europe got to go

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to school on the glens because they they

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can teach us a lot about what one ending

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love what undying respect and admiration

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for each other means mutual respect

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because that there was never a question

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that any was the love of his life in in

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fact you know I when I talk to tool in

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his daughter a couple weeks ago because

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you know we've been kind of knowing that

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he was not doing well and that this day

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was approaching I would always ask about

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her mom and and as I asked about the

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senator she said you know is as sick as

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he was he wanted to know how I any was

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you know he was checking on her and and

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saying you know she got to take care of

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her

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he that that's John that's the John

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again that I remember and shall always

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cherish the person that in my mind never

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thought about himself

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there's a great movie that's coming out

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in January called hidden figures and the

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movie focuses on on a group of

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african-american women mainly Katherine

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Johnson a not marginal figure or

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character in that movie is John Glenn

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the mercury astronaut and and what

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struck me so having been through life as

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an astronaut was when they first arrived

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at Langley Air Force Base back then the

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Langley Research Center and they got out

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of their cars and they went to greet

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this these throngs of NASA employees and

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everybody else and there was this small

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group of african-american women off on

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the side who were the human computers

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that you'll you'll see about in the

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movie only John Glenn I mean everybody

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else is going through the crowd shaking

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hands and then they were hustled off to

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go to their meetings John straight off

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because it was this group of women that

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he recognized it must have been there

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for some reason he went over and

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introduced himself and he shook hands

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with with each of them and

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let them know you know how important he

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felt they were and and he became a

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central figure in the story of of

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Katherine Johnson who received the

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presidential medal of freedom last year

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that you know just to be able to connect

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the two of them as we were able to do

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last week who cared so much for each

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other and realized the importance of

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each other in their lives John Glenn

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would have never flown had it not been

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for Katherine Johnson saying it's okay

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and Katherine Johnson would not be this

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national hero today had it not been for

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this this incredible marine this

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incredible astronaut john glenn who took

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the time to go shake her hand get to

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meet her and and and learn how to trust

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her and make her feel like she was a

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John and bodies look like people always

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ask a lot of times what what what single

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thing would you advise me and I and I

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always tell them take care of your

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people and they will take care of you

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you know it is a it is a dictum that we

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learn in the Marine Corps we always talk

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about mission first people second but

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take care of number two and they'll take

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care of number one

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anybody who looks at John Gibbons life

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will recognize it

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you know John knew that he embodied

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taking care of your people whether it

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was as a pilot we're at times he had Ted

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Williams the great baseball player on

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his wing and Korea or whether he was

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leading marines or ultimately in the US

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Senate where he fought for people many

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of whom he never knew but he he thought

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you know their lives were important also

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and then what he did when he went back

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home to columbus in the ohio state

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university where he adopted as his focus

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for life bringing young people into have

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opportunities to to get do and see some

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of the things that he had seen if they

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realize that science and math were

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critically important

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that's the john glenn that I hope people

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will remember forever and you know John

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Glenn the astronaut that the heat get

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great John Glenn the humanitarian John

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Glenn the human being john when the

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husband you know the love because what

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that's what that's what I remember

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I will tell

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and kids that this weekend a lot you

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know we'll sit down and and and i'll

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talk to them a lot about my friend John

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Glenn and and how you exemplified

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everything that we've tried to teach

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them in about not caring for other

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people and you know about putting

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putting others first and not worry about

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yourself knowing that if you take care

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of other people then then they'll take

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care of you that that was John get

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that's the that's the John game that I

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know and that's the john glenn that

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leaves a nanny behind who want to go to

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the grocery store today you know so it

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should be ready for people to come over