Feb. 22, 1962 - New York City plans to give “one of the great welcomes of its history” to Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and his fellow astronauts. Mayor Wagner announced today that a ticker-tape parade and civic welcome would be given next Thursday for Colonel Glenn, Comdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Capt. Virgil I. Grissom. They will be accompanied by their families. Also included in the welcome will be James E. Webb, director of NASA, and Dr. Robert Gilruth, director of the Mercury Project. It appeared that city officials would strive to make the astronauts’ welcome equal or exceed that given to Charles A. Lindbergh after he flew the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 and to General Douglas MacArthur in 1951. Mayor Wagner said he would “urge” the Board of Education to close the city’s schools so the children could watch the parade.
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