John Glenn Laid to Rest at Arlington National Cemetery

Glenn, the first American to travel around the Earth, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He reportedly died “after suffering from several health complications in recent years,” the International Business Times noted.

Glenn’s burial comes on the same day that would have marked his 74th wedding anniversary with his widow, Annie Glenn.

Though the funeral service was held privately at the Old Post Chapel at 9 a.m., the U.S. Marine Corps opened a portion of it to the public via livestream, The Associated Press reported.

There were about 2,500 people at the service.

Glenn is remembered for being one of NASA’s original seven Mercury astronauts, but before he joined the space agency, he was a Marine pilot in World War II and the Korean War, PBS noted.

He worked for NASA from 1959 to 1964 and later served in the U.S. Senate for 25 years before retiring in 1999.

Glenn is revered for records he set – flying from Los Angeles to New York in just 3 hours and 23 minutes and becoming the oldest person to ever fly to space in 1998.

“I think if we can help some of these events of the past help bring alive some of those experiences for our young people today, where we whet their interest in science and technology and engineering and math, it will all be well worthwhile,” Glenn told PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.

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