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Godspeed: John Glenn laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

The astronaut and senator is hailed as a hero at a funeral held on the 74th anniversary of his wedding to wife Annie.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper

He's slipped the surly bonds of Earth, traveled to places and seen sights most people could only dream of, but now John Glenn is home for good.

The late astronaut and US senator, who died December 8 at age 95, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday morning. United States Marines carried the casket, which was draped with an American flag protected by plastic from the light spring rain. Glenn, himself a Marine Corps veteran, flew 59 combat missions in World War II and 63 during the Korean War.

Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller presented the flag to Glenn's wife Annie, on what would have been the couple's 74th wedding anniversary.

"Senator Glenn was more than an astronaut," acting NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement Thursday. "He was the hero we needed in a rapidly changing world and an icon of our American spirit. We will never forget him, and future generations will continue to live out his legacy as we venture farther into the solar system.

"Godspeed, Senator Glenn. Our deepest gratitude, and everlasting respect and affection go with you."

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