BY JOHN JOHNSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEW CONCORD, Ohio -- At liftoff, almost everyone stood and cheered. But Lloyd White sat quietly, eyes on a giant video screen that showed space shuttle Discovery -- with his friend John Glenn aboard -- soaring into space.
He stared intently at the screen Thursday while about 1,500 others in the Muskingum College Recreation Center celebrated jubilantly. Minutes later, the tension left Mr. White's face.
"Boy, that was tough for me," the 77-year-old Columbus resident said. "When those booster rockets came off, it was a good feeling. I think Challenger (which exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986) is stuck somewhere in the back of my mind."
But Mr. White figured Mr. Glenn was "cool as a cucumber" during liftoff. He should know. In 1943, when the future astronaut and U.S. senator got married in New Concord, Mr. White was his best man. Several of the retiring senator's friends and acquaintances watched the launch at Muskingum College, alma mater of both Mr. Glenn and his wife, Annie.
"My heart's pounding!" said Linda Secrest, 46, moments after liftoff. "It's so exciting. It's invigorating. I'm so proud." The New Concord woman helped with Mr. Glenn's last Senate campaign.
"It's a day of destiny," said the Rev. Harold Kaser,who has known Mr. Glenn since they played together on the football team at Muskingum. He's a retired minister and the college's director of church relations.
"It's a day that gives John Glenn an opportunity to put a capstone on his life."
It was also a day for New Concord to show its pride. Mr. Glenn was 2 years old when his family moved to the Ohio village, three hours northeast of Cincinnati, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians.
Janet Nesselroad, who works at the college, brought her children, ages 6, 7 and 9. "I thought it was very important, because they live here, to see history in the making."
The words Godspeed John Glenn were on a banner stretched across Main Street. On a sign at the entrance to John Glenn High School. On a banner outside the college's John Glenn Gymnasium. John Wycoff watched the launch from his barbershop on Main Street. "A lot of people (in New Concord) don't like John Glenn the politician," he said. "But as John Glenn, astronaut, he's well thought of. He's a hero. The country needs a hero again."
Earlier in the day, a retired couple, Fred and Charlotte Holmquist, were driving home to Brainerd, Minn., after an East Coast trip, and couldn't resist making a slight detour into John Glenn's hometown.
They saw a camera crew at a white, two-story house on Friendship Drive -- the street is named after the Friendship 7 spacecraft that Mr. Glenn flew in 1962 -- and realized it was the astronaut's boyhood home. Mr. Glenn still owns the house, and rents it out.
Mrs. Holmquist hopped out of the car to take a picture. "This is a great day to make a stop here," she said.
"It's one of the great days in American history," her husband added.
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