Buzz Aldrin 2004, and campaigned for Nick Lampson in Texas in 2006, Paul Rancatore in Florida in 2008, Mark Treadwell in Alaska in 2014, and Dan Crenshaw in Texas in 2018. Following the 2012 death of his Apollo 11 colleague, Neil Armstrong, Aldrin said that he was "deeply saddened by the passing. I know I am joined by millions of others in mourning the passing of a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew. I had truly hoped that on July 20th, 2019, Neil, Mike and I would be standing together to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of our moon
Buzz Aldrin a parachute to open. For his service in Korea, he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and three Air Medals. Aldrin's year-long tour ended in December 1953, by which time the fighting in Korea had ended. Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis. In December 1954 he became an aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Don Z. Zimmerman, the Dean of Faculty at the nascent United States Air Force Academy, which opened in 1955. That same year, he graduated from the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. From 1956 to 1959 he flew F-100 Super