Make New York Post a Preferred Source This party is out of this world.
NASA superstar Suni Williams kicked off Veterans Day celebrations in the Big Apple early Tuesday by ringing in the Marine Corps’ 251st birthday.
The Navy veteran and this year’s Veterans Day Parade Grand Marshall joined active sailors and Marines for the bash aboard the USS San Antonio — which landed in the city this week for the first time in 11 years and came fresh off a 14-year deployment.
“It’s just incredible to be on this Navy ship. It’s done so much in its history and its class of ships has done so many amazing things,” Williams told The Post.
“It is just a small symbol of what the military is doing and has done for many years. I’m just honored to be here as part of the Veterans Day celebration to really appreciate all those who have come before us.”
Williams became a household name in 2024 when she spent nine months stuck in space after technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft extended her planned eight-day mission. She and her crewmate, Butch Wilmore, eventually returned to Earth in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
The Navy hosted the Marine Corps on its vessel for the blockbuster bash just one day after the 684-foot ship docked at Pier 88.
Members of its Ceremonial Guard Drill Team and band performed on the ship’s top deck before the two military branches shared slices of birthday cake.
In line with tradition, the oldest Marine cut the cake with the Mameluke — or the ceremonial sword — before handing it off to the youngest Marine on the crew.
That meant Master Sgt Jacob Chmielewski, 33, and Lance Corporal Mason Degado, 19, both of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, had the honors of kicking off the corps’ 251st year.
“Today, we have the opportunity to honor the past and meet the challenges of the future,” said Rear Adm. Craig Sicola.
The party also marked the first time the USS San Antonio had been in the Big Apple since Fleet Week in 2011 — and had just completed a 14-month deployment three weeks earlier.
The vessel is the lead ship in its amphibious transport dock class — and one of its members was the craft that picked up the Artemis II crew from their historic voyage to the moon in April.
The vessel scooped Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch after their capsule perfectly plunked down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
The celebrations will last through the week as the Big Apple celebrates Veterans Day.
The 107th Veterans Day Parade down Fifth Avenue will kick off Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., led by Williams, who recently retired after a lifetime of service — including becoming the first woman to pilot an Inaugural Spacecraft Mission and the second female commander of the International Space Station.
Williams, 61, was also the first person to run a marathon and complete a triathlon in space.
The annual parade will commemorate several special anniversaries, including America’s 250th birthday, the 85th anniversary of World War II, and the 35th anniversary of Desert Storm.
