Aldrin makes long-distance acceptance of Truman Award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- America's 33rd president had "brilliant visions of the future," the latest recipient of the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award said Thursday.

"He integrated our armed forces, established the Department of Defense, took great risks for the benefit of mankind and dared to go where few have trod," retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin said. "One might say that but for the willingness of Harry Truman to make certain decisions, take certain risks, our walk on the moon might never have taken place."

Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, delivered his acceptance speech via videotape. He lives in the Los Angeles area, and health concerns kept him from traveling to Kansas City for Thursday's awards luncheon.

"As a West Pointer, I learned to follow orders, and my doctor's orders I question only very rarely -- and then only with Mrs. Aldrin's permission," he said.

Working on Mars project

Aldrin, who holds a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is now working with scientists on a shuttle that would carry astronauts to and from Mars.

His stand-in as Thursday's luncheon speaker, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton, praised the retired astronaut as "one of the heroes of contemporary America."

Eagleton, the recipient of the second Good Neighbor Award in 1974, also praised Truman's plainspoken presidential style and his handling of such issues as the use of atomic weapons in World War II, American involvement in Korea and the rebuilding of postwar Europe through the Marshall Plan.

"He was an uncomplicated man with uncommon ability to make tough decisions of a complicated nature," Eagleton said. "I think President Truman was a 'Profile in Courage' long before John F. Kennedy wrote the book of that title."

Past recipients of the Good Neighbor Award include former President Ford (1977), and Gens. Omar Bradley (1979) and Norman Schwarzkopf (2000).

Also at Thursday's luncheon, retired Marine Col. Thomas W. Holden was presented the Harry S. Truman Silver Veteran's medal.

On April 30, 1975, Holden, then a captain, flew the final helicopter mission to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, to rescue 11 Marine embassy guards who had inadvertently been left behind. The rescue marked the formal end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

He now lives in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kan., and is the executive director of the Hotel and Motel Association of Greater Kansas City.

On Friday, Ken Hechler, a former secretary of state and nine-term West Virginia congressman, is scheduled to receive the Harry S. Truman Public Service Award from the Truman Presidential Library.

The award will be presented at the Truman Presidential Library and Museum in the former president's hometown of Independence.