By Howard Benedict
Wednesday, February 21, 1962; Page A16

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb 20 (AP) – John Herschel Glenn Jr. today kept a personal date with destiny, a date he worked unnervingly toward for a long time.

In all ways since his selection as a Mercury astronaut three years ago, Glenn drove himself hard — dedicated and determined to ride into space and contribute to man's knowledge.

Modesty also stood out all over Glenn's makeup during his long training. In vain, he pleaded with the world to take the spotlight off him and his family and focus it on the worthwhile things to be done and learned in the skies.

Glenn, a balding 40-year-old Marine lieutenant colonel, wanted desperately to be the first American space pilot. But he lost the call on the first two flights, to Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. Grissom. For each of these brief suborbital flights, Glenn was the backup astronaut, ready to step in if something happened to the prime pilot.

Helping him was his experience as a combat pilot in World War Ii and later in Korea. He shot down three Communist MIG fighters in the final days of the Korean war, and after one dogfight, returned to base with more than 200 bullet holes in his plane. He won five distinguished flying crosses and an air medal with 19 clusters.

In every possible way, Glenn drove himself hard to prepare for space flight. Worried about his weight soon after his selection as an astronaut, Glenn regimented his diet and exercise and slimmed down from 195 pounds to a muscular 165.

Always very close to his family, Glenn nevertheless decided early that the Mercury was so important he would live in bachelor quarters at Langley Air Force Base, Va., seeing his wife and two children only on weekends. His wife, ann, and his children, David, 16, and Carolyn, 14, live in a comfortable home in Arlington, Va.

I think it's good for John to be alone," said Mrs. Glenn, "to work out his studies and get a good night's sleep."

During his training period in Florida, he was apt to be found on a Sunday driving from Cape Canaveral to Cocoa Beach to attend divine services at Riverside Presbyterian Church and autograph Bibles for youngsters afterward.

Anne once said she didn't remember when she met John — but it was while they were playmates together in New Concord, Ohio, before they were six years old.

Glenn's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Glenn, still live in New Concord, where they moved from Cambridge, Ohio, after John was born July 18, 1921.