I was a sophomore that Feb 20th. I don't remember what class I was that morning but I was all ears. We wore a coat and tie to class at Bergen Catholic HS. I had my 8th grade graduation transistor radio hidden tucked away in the inside pocket of my blazer. The earpiece was tucked in my outside ear away from the line of sight of the Irish Christian Brother teaching the class. But the guy sitting behind me could see it and kept nudging me for Mercury Seven updates.
To reduce the chance of being found out by whispering in class, I scribbled notes and passed them back to him. Unbeknownst to me he passed them along to others. Eventually Brother noticed that no one was paying attention to him as the train of transcribed Cronkite pearls, like "GO BABY!", were furtively winding up and down the aisles of the class and he intercepted one. Busy writing my next update I didn't realize the room had gone silent nor that Brother was reading one of my missives. In the authoritative voice all Irish Christian Brothers develop in seminary, he boomed out, "I need a status update, where is Lt Glenn now!" As a well indoctrinated Bergen Catholic student taught to comply, I instinctively responded, "Over the Indian Ocean" ... Busted!
Expecting to be sent to the Principal's Office for a Saturday J.U.G., Brother instead asked me to step to the front of the class to give verbal updates on the space flight. He noted it might spare me writer's cramp and the eyesight of my classmates as the notes was getting increasingly illegible. When the end of class bell rang I assumed I got a reprieve.
When I got to my next classroom that Brother looked at me and said, "I hear you have a relationship with Walter Cronkite. Stand up and fill us all with what's happening." And so it was for the duration of the flight from classroom to classroom.
John Glenn, Walter Cronkite ... our heroes were giants in those days.
Godspeed, John Glenn!
God Speed John Glenn.
