— Ch. 1 · The Boy Who Became Buzz —
Buzz Aldrin.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. was born on the 20th of January 1930 at Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. His parents were Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr. and Marion Aldrin, who lived in neighboring Montclair. His father served as an Army aviator during World War I before becoming an executive at Standard Oil. Aldrin had two older sisters named Madeleine and Fay Ann. The nickname Buzz arose when his sister Fay mispronounced the word brother as buzzer. This childhood moniker eventually became his legal first name in 1988. He attended Severn School in 1946 but faced seasickness which made him consider ships a distraction from flying airplanes. He convinced his father to change his nomination from the United States Naval Academy to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Aldrin entered West Point in 1947 and finished first in his plebe year. He graduated third in the class of 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.
Sixty-Seven Combat Missions Over Korea
Aldrin chose the United States Air Force after graduating from West Point because it had become a separate service in 1947 while he was still at school. He underwent basic flight training in T-6 Texans at Bartow Air Base in Florida where he met Sam Johnson who later became a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In December 1952 he was assigned to the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron based at Suwon Air Base about 30 miles south of Seoul. During an acclimatization flight his main fuel system froze at 100 percent power requiring him to hold a button down manually. This action made it impossible for him to use his radio yet he barely managed to return under enforced radio silence. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres in Korea and shot down two MiG-15 aircraft. The first victory occurred on the 14th of May 1953 when he saw two MiG-15 fighters below him while flying about 10 miles south of the Yalu River. The 8th of June 1953 issue of Life magazine featured gun camera footage taken by Aldrin showing the pilot ejecting from his damaged aircraft.