vu, some 40-year-old, almost, sense of deja vu. reporter: he was born july 18, 1921 in cambridge, ohio and attended muss keying gum college. after the japanese attacked pearl harbor he signed up for the aviation cadet program and became a marine corps pilot long before senator john glenn landed in our nation s capital, he served in world war ii flying 59 successful missions. offensive years later this leather neck was ready to fly sorties again this time over north korea. after serving in korea, glenn attended test pilot school at the naval air test center in maryland. here he gained early national recognition by setting the transcontinental speed record from los angeles to work in 3 hours and 23 minutes. by the late 1950s, the u.s. manned space program was just being conceived. john glenn was selected as one of the first seven astronauts for project mercury.