Buzz Aldrin service. His father and father's close friend General Jimmy Doolittle attended the formal retirement ceremony. Aldrin's autobiographies "Return to Earth," (1973) and "Magnificent Desolation" (2009), recounted his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years after leaving NASA. On September 9, 2002, Aldrin was lured to a Beverly Hills hotel on the pretext of being interviewed for a Japanese children's television show on the subject of space. When he arrived, Moon landing conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel accosted him with a film crew and demanded he swear on a Bible that the Moon landings were not faked. After a brief
Buzz Aldrin to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Aldrin entered West Point in 1947. He did well academically, finishing first in his class his plebe year. He was a member of the academy track and field team. In his final year he travelled with a group of West Point cadets to Japan and the Philippines to study the military government policies of Douglas MacArthur. On June 5, 1951, he graduated third in the class in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree. As one of the highest-ranking members of the class, Aldrin had his choice of assignments.