We Honor Ohioans Who Serve for Veterans Day 2024
By Bill Butler, National Veterans Memorial and Museum
This Veterans Day, we recognize the service and selflessness of Ohioans who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. Ohio has a rich history, having been part of the Northwest Territory and later admitted into the Union in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson was president.
Given Ohio’s long and important history as part of the United States, there are incredibly famous veterans, whose service to our country had an outsized impact not just on our state but on our country. It’s from these millions of men and women who swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States that we can draw inspiration. The challenge, which of these millions should be highlighted this Veterans Day?
331 Ohioans have receied the Medal of Honor
There are 331 Medal of Honor recipients from Ohio, dating back to the Civil War. These are men who displayed the highest levels of valor and courage in the face of the enemy to accomplish their missions and support their fellow servicemembers. Most recently, during the Global War on Terror, Navy SEAL Edward C. Byers, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2016 for actions while rescuing hostages from the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Ohio Presidents and Veterans
Eight Ohioans were elected President of the United States, six of whom served in the military before entering politics. The most famous of these men is probably Ulysses S. Grant, who led the Grand Army of the Republic to victory over the Confederacy’s most capable wartime commander, Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Other Ohioans rose to great fame in the Civil War, too, most notably William Tecumseh Sherman, whose March to the Sea, devastation of Georgia, and his famous quote, “War is Hell!” are all synonymous. Ohioans also sent more military age sons to fight in the Civil War, approximately 60 percent, than any other state.
Ohioans who served as Tuskegee Airmen
Another 58 Ohioans became pilots with the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. Not only did they fight overseas against fascism in Europe, but they also had to fight to serve their country. They had to overcome extreme levels of institutional racism in our country to compete to become fighter and bomber pilots and risk their lives for a country who viewed them as inferior. After World War II the Tuskegee Airmen were stationed in Lockbourne Airbase, just south of Columbus, now called Rickenbacker Airbase. Many stayed in Columbus and other parts of Ohio to become teachers, engineers, professors, and pilots. All made our country and our state better through their selfless actions in WWII and the commitment to make their communities better after the War.
Ohioans in Space
Ohio is famous for the number of astronauts we have sent into space, many of whom are veterans. These include John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, Sunita Williams, and Nancy J. Currie-Gregg, who all broke records or glass ceilings while serving.
John Glenn: A Legacy of Service
I would like to highlight the service of John Glenn. Before achieving international fame for being the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, at the height of the Cold War and space race with the Soviet Union, he was an accomplished Marine Corps aviator. John Glenn was a highly decorated combat aviator in World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the Korean War, having been awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 18 Air Medals. Glenn was a record setting test pilot before joining the newly formed National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).
It was during the Mercury missions when he flew Friendship 7, circumnavigating the globe three times that John Glenn became a household name and global superstar.
After serving his nation in the Marine Corps and as an astronaut, Glenn became a successful businessman. But it was the call to serve that pulled Glenn into his decades- long political career. From 1975 until 1999, Glenn represented Ohio in the United States Senate.
He served on the Senate’s Government Operations, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services Committees, and the Special Committee on Aging. He introduced legislation during his first term to address the energy crisis and was instrumental in developing six major pieces of legislation on nuclear non-proliferation. While on the Armed Services Committee he introduced legislation to increase the pay and benefits of American troops after Desert Storm.
On October 28, 1998, John Glenn, one of the first American astronauts, became the oldest person to fly in space at age 77, as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery. His participation was part of a collaboration between NASA and the National Institute of Aging to study the impact of space flight on the human body.
Glenn inspired others to serve throughout his incredible lifetime of military and public service. In 1998 he helped found the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University. The institute merged with OSU’s School of Public Policy and Management to become the John Glenn College of Public Affairs with the stated goal to inspire others to public service and “making positive change in the world.” Glenn was the catalyst to build the National Veterans Memorial and Museum (NVMM), which recently celebrated its six-year anniversary. Through storytelling and by sharing the veteran experience with America, the NVMM inspires others to become part of something greater than themselves.
All Americans can draw inspiration from the actions of U.S. senator, astronaut, and veteran John Glenn, Col., USMC, Retired. For his adult life, an incredible life well lived, he let his actions speak for themselves, demonstrating selflessness in everything he did.
“To me, there is not greater calling, if I can inspire young people to dedicate themselves to the good of mankind, I’ve accomplished something.” – John Glenn
Bill Butler is a retired Army Colonel and acting president of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum