SOARING TRIBUTE
HIS MOM’S MAIDEN name was Moon. That probably wouldn’t have mattered if Buzz Aldrin had become a landscaper or a used car salesman. But he became an astronaut, a history-making man of space, whose course may have been charted long before he was born.
And even now, 48 years after becoming the second person to set foot on the moon, Aldrin is blazing new trails.
The West Point graduate, MIT scholar, Air Force pilot, Korean War veteran, NASA hero, foundation founder and children’s book author will be the grand marshal for the 2017 New York City Veterans Day Parade on Saturday. And Aldrin, 87, sounds like he can’t wait. “I’m proud and honored to lead the Veterans Day Parade,” Aldrin said. “I took an oath at the age of 17 at West Point to serve my country, and everything I do is in service to our country to this day.”
Organizers of the parade, the nation’s largest program honoring military service, said the choice of Aldrin as grand marshal was an easy one since the event is saluting the Air Force, which turns 70 this year.
More than 300 units and tens of thousands of marchers, including veterans of military units from numerous eras, will assemble near Madison Square Park, rain or shine.
They will be joined by civic groups, youth organizations, businesses and high school bands from across the country.
At 11:15 a.m., after a wreath-laying ceremony at the Eternal Light in Madison Square Park that will feature a flag-raising service and a 21-gun salute, they will begin their march north along Fifth Ave. from E. 26th St. through E. 52nd St,, past a reviewing stand on E. 41st St. near the New York Public Library.
The parade will feature floats, military vehicles, vintage cars and plenty of red, white and blue.
This year’s parade marks the centennial of America’s 1917 entry into World War I. It will be broadcast live on WPIX11 from noon to 3 p.m., and is also shown on AFN (American Forces Network) and streamed online at Military.com.
The Veteran’s Day Parade, the city’s 98th, has its roots in ceremonies and marches organized by veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to mark Evacuation Day, Nov. 25, 1783, the day the British departed New York City at the end of the American Revolution.
In 1919, after World War I, millions of New Yorkers welcomed home tens of thousands of troops at parades along Fifth Ave., inaugurating a new tradition.
When public support of patriotic observances declined in the late 1970s and 1980s, the United War Veterans Council stepped forward to renew interest in the parade and in the tradition of honoring military service.
“I think it’s important to remind the world of the value of service and having pride in one’s military career, and the value that veterans bring to society,” Aldrin said. “I’m very proud to be a veteran and proud to stand with our vets to get them the credit and support they deserve.”
Aldrin’s association with space travel and his historic 1969 walk with astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon make it easy to forget his important military service.
But Aldrin, who graduated third in his class at West Point, was a fighter pilot, flying F86 Sabre jets in 66 combat missions during the Korean War. He shot down two MIG-15s and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The June 8, 1953, issue of Life magazine featured photos taken by Aldrin of one of the Soviet pilots ejecting from his damaged aircraft.
“Col. Buzz Aldrin is the living embodiment of the U.S. Air Force motto — Aim High,” said Douglas McGowan, chairman of the U.S. Marine Corps Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“From the skies over Korea to Tranquility Base, where Col. Aldrin made his historic moonwalk 48 years ago this week, he has inspired generations around the world to reach for the stars.”
Aldrin, whose name graces the Montclair, N.J., school he attended as a child, is the son of Marion Moon, the daughter of an Army chaplain, and Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr., a career military man.
Aldrin, who was also named Edwin, got his nickname from a younger sister, who struggled to say the word “brother.”
“Buzzer” became “Buzz,” and the name he shared with his father was long forgotten.
Aldrin actually turned down a full scholarship at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology to attend West Point, though he later attended MIT’s graduate school, where he earned a doctorate of science in astronautics.
The rest, in all the ways imaginable, is history.