It is believed that as early as when the original group of
astronauts, known as the Mercury Seven, realized that they needed to protect
their families from the occupational risk of dying in a rocket ship they knew
that buying life insurance just wasn’t an option. They had to apply their
creative intelligence to a very practical problem. Instead of buying life
insurance, which, in reality no company would sell to them, they came up with
an innovative solution to their problem.
It is hard to convey to someone who wasn't around in that
era exactly how famous the early astronauts were but they were easily the most
famous men in the world. You couldn’t pick up a newspaper or magazine, you
couldn’t watch a news broadcast without hearing about their exploits. They made
history with every mission. The seven members of their elite group were culled
from an original group of 508 military members, mostly combat veterans and test
pilots. They were put through the most rigorous screenings and testing in the
history of aviation. You couldn’t get much closer to Superman than an
astronaut.
So what was their brilliant substitute for life insurance?
The astronauts autographed the outsides of hundreds of envelopes and made sure
to have them postmarked on the dates of their launches into space. They knew
that if something happened to them those autographs would be worth thousands of
dollars each and that their families would be financially protected. Today
those envelopes sell at auction for up to $30,000 apiece. Brilliant!
If your autograph doesn't carry the same value as the early
astronauts chances are that we can get you a little better deal on life
insurance than an astronaut could get in the 1960's. In fact life insurance has
never been a better value. In many cases just tenths of a percent per thousand
dollars of coverage....about a dime a month for a thousand dollars of coverage
if you're in your twenties or thirties, a bit more if you are older.
Back to outer space for a moment. The Mercury Seven
astronauts were one of the most outstanding groups of men in the history of the
United States. They were so renowned that boys and girls knew every one of
their names and life stories. There were even trading cards with their images
and "stats". At the pinnacle of this group was John Glenn. I have
written about childhood heroes before and most of us had our own, usually local
ones, often sports heroes. But John Glenn was everybody's hero. Not only was he
brilliant and physically capable of everything demanded of an astronaut but he
led an exemplary life and went on to become a distinguished United States
senator, a one-time prospect for president of the United States. President
Kennedy realized that he was so symbolically valuable to our nation that he
grounded Glenn from future missions in space for fear that we would lose our
greatest American hero.
Earlier this week John Glenn passed away at age 95.
Immediately before launching his mission as the first American to orbit the
earth in a space ship named Friendship Seven, another Mercury Seven member,
Scott Carpenter picked up the microphone at Mission Control and spoke these
words to his good friend, "Godspeed, John Glenn." Indeed, Godspeed,
John Glenn, America and the world thank you for your service and your shining
example. I don't think anyone like him will ever pass our way again.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Alan Leafman, President
847-559-9699 x 222
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