John Glenn — the pioneering astronaut, political leader and war hero who died Dec. 8 — is also part of Postal Service history.
A 4-cent Project Mercury stamp was issued in 1962 to commemorate Glenn’s most famous space flight, when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.
In 2004, not long after Glenn retired as a U.S. Senator from Ohio, he helped unveil the Henry Mancini stamp, honoring a fellow Buckeye State native.
Congress honored Glenn again in 2007 by naming the Cambridge, OH, Post Office after him.
“In a way, you could say this is where my whole flying career started, right here,” he said at the dedication ceremony.
Glenn has received an outpouring of tributes since his death, including one from President Obama, who said, “The last of America’s first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens.”