52 years ago, on this date, this author was a high school student, thrilled at the orbiting in space of the first American, John Glenn.
Glenn went on to serve as a US Senator from Ohio from 1975-1999, and go into space again at age 78 in 1998, in his last months as a US Senator.
Glenn, going on 93 in July, is the last surviving member of the Mercury Seven Astronauts crew of seven heroes!
In 1962, America had a much more optimistic outlook on the future, than it does now, and “Baby Boomers” were part of that idealism, those born after World War II.
Sadly, a substantial portion of those surviving “Baby Boomers” now are cynical, selfish, reactionary, hateful people, part of the Tea Party Movement, a shocking reversal of what they were a half century ago. They have forgotten the “American Dream”, and now only concern themselves with condemnation of the advancement of immigrants, African Americans, women and their rights, and oppose the rights of gays and lesbians.
This is a center of the turmoil we have now in this country, which should be proud of its social advancements, and yet has a large portion of senior citizens who are resentful of the advancement of those who are not like they were, heavily white middle class and wealthier kids who had opportunities that now, sadly, they wish to deny others who look differently than they do! And they forget the future is not them or myself, but the younger generation, and the nation is massively different than it was a half century ago, and it is time to accept that reality, and move on to the future!