Cadets from the New York Military Academy (NYMA), President-elect Donald Trump’s alma mater, are set to march in his Inaugural Parade on Monday, former classmates of his have confirmed to Breitbart News.
Jack Serafin, the head of the academy’s alumni association, attended the Cornwall-on-Hudson preparatory boarding school in the 1960s with Trump.
“When I was a freshman, he was my supply sergeant when he was a junior,” he told Breitbart News on Wednesday, ahead of next Monday’s inauguration festivities.
When asked how it feels to see his childhood friend make history as the first president to serve non-consecutive terms, Serafin said, “It’s indescribable… I’m speechless.”
The NYMA cadets “proudly” marched in Trump’s first inaugural parade in 2017, with photos showing the newly sworn-in president happily saluting the young cadets who came to see him:
Eight years ago in January 2017, NYMA proudly watched as one of our own, Donald J. Trump, was inaugurated as the 45th…
Posted by New York Military Academy on Thursday, January 9, 2025
“When the academy passed by, he almost started to cry,” Serafin said of the 2017 parade. “You could see it really hit a nerve… He’s always been a first class guy.”
“Everybody liked him… He was a great athlete… He was a good student, and he was very supportive of the academy after he left,” he continued.
When asked if he would have believed that his classmate would become the president someday, Serafin said his peers already “knew he had the capability to do it.”
He noted that about 20 other alumni are coming down to the inauguration, along with the approximately 30 current students.
Peter Ticktin, who was Trump’s platoon sergeant at NYMA when they were both 18 years old, is also a lifelong friend and one of the attorneys behind his lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.
“He’s going to save America from where it was going, which was down the drain,” Ticktin told Breitbart News, when asked how it feels to see his former classmate be elected for a second time.
He explained that Trump will switch the country’s “globalist mentality” to an “America first mentality.”
Ticktin also said that he “wouldn’t have doubted that he would become president someday” if someone had told him back when the pair graduated from NYMA in 1964.
According to the Florida-based lawyer, who authored the book What Makes Trump Tick: My Years with Donald Trump from New York Military Academy to the Present, the incoming president “doesn’t operate out of fear.”
“He operates out of logic. He sees a problem, he sees what needs to be done, and he will do what needs to be done without fear of repercussions… You know, a good example would be moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem,” Ticktin added.
Jennifer Lawrence, a later alumna of NYMA and the CEO of America Mission, is also promoting awareness of the cadets marching in the parade:
As a proud alumna of the New York Military Academy, I can tell you it wasn’t just another place to learn; it was where exceptional leaders were forged. Leaders who, in the face of adversity and evil, stand firm, never giving up, never surrendering. This parade is a bold statement of the legacy of leadership and the unyielding resolve for truth and the bold spirit of bravery that has been exemplified by President Trump his whole life but especially in the last four years.
I can’t wait to see the cadets and alumni march with their heads high, saluting the newly sworn-in 47th President of the United States and fellow New York Military Academy graduate, Donald J. Trump. God bless President Trump, and God bless America.
In a statement to the New York Post, retired U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Mike Lavigne, director of cadet life at NYMA, emphasized how great of an honor it is to the cadets to march once again for Trump.
“These cadets are wearing the same uniforms, following the same daily routine, and will ultimately graduate from the same military academy as a twice-elected President of the United States. It shows them what’s possible with the right focus and effort,” Lavigne said.
“We’re thrilled to be able to render honors to a commander-in-chief who’s also a proud graduate of our school,” added NYMA Headmaster Sunny Doman. “This is a historic occasion — we’ll march past with our cadets and a detachment of alumni, including a few of President Trump’s classmates from 1964. Our cadets and parents are proud we’re participating.”
A GoFundMe organized by Lavigne to help with the costs of the cadets’ trip to Washington, DC, has a $25,000 goal.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, and a 100-member ensemble of active and retired officers of Irish descent will also march in the parade, the Post reported.
