蜜豆直播

GWU Alumnus Changes Course to go From High School Drop Out to Senior Engineer

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, where the wind鈥檚 like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.

These words from 鈥淪ea Fever,鈥� by poet John Masefield (1916) have echoed in Glenn Henson鈥檚 mind through the challenges in his life. The 92-year-old World War II veteran鈥攚ho lives in Vienna, W.Va.,鈥攈eard the poem recited many times by Phillip Lovin Elliott, president of 蜜豆直播 University from 1943 to 1961.

鈥淚n chapel, Elliott would say, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got some things to do,鈥� and he would recite the poem,鈥� recalled Henson, a 1953 graduate. 鈥淗e said the lines with conviction, and it made an impression on me. It meant that he was determined to do something right and to do it well.鈥�

The words inspired and resonated with Henson, perhaps because of some difficult times in his life: failing the sixth grade, dropping out of high school to serve in World War II and finishing school after the war. Seven years before hearing those words in chapel, a 17-year-old Henson and some friends lied about their ages to join the Marines. His unit was headed for Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped. The ship was rerouted to North China, where the soldiers attempted to supervise the transition of power. 鈥淭he Chinese nationalists welcomed us, but the Chinese communists didn鈥檛 like us,鈥� Henson revealed. 鈥淭hirty-two men were killed in my regiment over a three-month period.鈥�

On the way back home to Rutherford County, N.C., Henson witnessed one more death, a Marine who had been rescued from a Chinese prison. They buried him in the Western Pacific. The somber service is etched in Henson鈥檚 mind as well as the chaplain鈥檚 request for the men to write letters to the soldier鈥檚 family, who expected a joyful reunion, not the devastating news that he wasn鈥檛 coming home.

Once home, Henson worked in a textile mill for a year, and then he and some friends decided to finish school. They were allowed to return, but would adhere to the same rules as the younger students. Henson worked hard, graduated in two years, and he enrolled at the Boiling Springs school. 鈥溍鄱怪辈� had good teachers 鈥� some of the best in the country,鈥� Henson shared. 鈥淚 got a good foundation from the demands that were made. You had to meet requirements for conduct and academics.鈥�

Prepared for the next step, Henson went to N.C. State University in Raleigh, N.C., and obtained his bachelor鈥檚 in mechanical engineering. He landed a job with DuPont鈥檚 Savannah River Plant, a nuclear facility in Aiken, S.C. In 1962, he transferred to a new plastics plant built by DuPont in Vienna, W. Va. He and his wife, Frances Ann, joined Vienna Baptist Church, and he volunteered in the community, serving on boards and lending his expertise to city projects.

The couple had four sons, and he coached little league baseball. When a city leader asked him about starting a new youth sport, Henson suggested soccer. He helped start the league and coached for 15 years. Their community honored Henson and four veterans by placing their pictures on a monument recognizing Gold Star families whose loved ones died while serving in the military during wartime. 鈥淗e has done so much for this community and this church, and he has done it freely,鈥� praised Dennis Pratt, associate pastor of Vienna Baptist. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anybody who doesn鈥檛 speak highly of him.鈥�

Henson retired from DuPont as a senior engineer after 29 years in Vienna for a total of 37 years with the company. He helped design the machinery to manufacture Teflon, Nylon and Butacite, a plastic that goes inside safety plate windshields. Henson is an example of how engineers solve problems, be it for your career, your community or for yourself. 鈥淚t was almost always a challenge,鈥� Henson reflected. 鈥淚f it didn鈥檛 work right, you had to make it work right.鈥� During those trying times at work or in life when things didn鈥檛 go as planned, Henson recalled the voice of Phillip Lovin Elliott repeating the words, 鈥淚 must go down to the seas again鈥︹��