General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1932 as the only African-American cadet and, four years later, became the first black West Point graduate in the 20th century.

A United States senator and astronaut, Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, aboard the third piloted flight of the Mercury program.

Captain Gene Cernan, as Commander of Apollo XVII, holds the distinction of being the last man to leave his footprints on the surface of the moon.