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Hideyuki Mihashi ©Stars and StripesTokyo, May, 1963: Astronaut John Glenn is mobbed by photographers after his arrival at Tokyo International Airport. Glenn, who in February, 1962 became the first American in orbit, was in Japan to assist with the communications network for the Mercury flight of L. Gordon Cooper. Once the mission was over, he embarked on a 12-day vacation in Japan with his family. John Glenn, a Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Korean War who later served as a U.S. senator and flew a space shuttle mission at age 77, died December 8, 2016.

RELATED MATERIAL: Three Stars and Stripes stories about John Glenn in Japan: • Cooper OK all the way, Glenn says (May 21, 1963) • Astronaut Glenn rides again! (May 23, 1963) • John Glenn, other astronauts visit troops, kids at Yokota AB (Jan. 21, 1999)