Ancestry

Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of Esther Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia. His ancestors include planter John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who established Richmond, as well as William Byrd I and Robert "King" Carter, a colonial governor. He was also descended from George Yeardley, Francis Wyatt and Samuel Argall. He was the brother of Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, a dominant figure in the Virginia Democratic Party from the 1920s until the 1960s; their father served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates for a time.^[3]

Marriage

On January 20, 1915, Richard married Marie Donaldson Ames (d. 1974). He would later name a region of Antarctic land he discovered "Marie Byrd Land" after her, and a mountain range, the Ames Range, after her father. They had four children – Richard Evelyn Byrd III, Evelyn Bolling Byrd Clarke, Katharine Agnes Byrd Breyer, and Helen Byrd Stabler. By late 1924, the Byrd family moved into a large brownstone house at 9 Brimmer Street in Boston's fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood^[4] that had been purchased by Marie's father, a wealthy industrialist.^[5]

Personal life

Byrd was friends with Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, whose admiration of his polar exploits helped to gain Byrd sponsorship and financing for his various polar expeditions from the Ford Motor Company.^[6]

He had a pet dog, Igloo, who accompanied Byrd to the North and South poles and who is buried at the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery with a tombstone that reads "He was more than a friend."^[7]

Controversy

The Fokker FVIIa/3M – Josephine Ford, on display at The Henry Ford Museum

Since 1926, doubts have been raised, defenses made, and heated controversy arose over whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole. In 1958, Norwegian-American aviator and explorer Bernt Balchen cast doubt on Byrd's statement on the basis of his knowledge of the airplane's speed.^[19] Balchen said that Bennett had confessed to him months after the flight that Byrd and he had not reached the pole.^[4][20] Bennett, who had not completely healed from the early crash, developed pneumonia after participating in a flight to rescue downed German aviators in Greenly Island, Canada, leading to his death on April 25, 1928. Bennett, though, had started a memoir, given numerous interviews, and wrote an article for an aviation magazine about the flight before his death that all confirmed Byrd's version of the flight.^[16]

The 1996 release of Byrd's diary of the May 9, 1926, flight revealed erased (but still legible) sextant sights that sharply differ from Byrd's later June 22 typewritten official report to the National Geographic Society. Byrd took a sextant reading of the Sun at 7:07:10 GCT. His erased diary record shows the apparent (observed) solar altitude to have been 19°25'30", while his later official typescript reports the same 7:07:10 apparent solar altitude to have been 18°18'18".^[21] On the basis of this and other data in the diary, Dennis Rawlins concluded that Byrd steered accurately, and flew about 80% of the distance to the pole before turning back because of an engine oil leak, but later falsified his official report to support his statement of reaching the pole.^[22][23]

Accepting that the conflicting data in the typed report's flight times indeed require both northward and southward ground speeds greater than the flight's 85-mph airspeed, a Byrd defender posits a westerly-moving anticyclone that tailwind-boosted Byrd's ground speed on both outward and inward legs, allowing the distance said to be covered in the time stated (the theory is based on rejecting handwritten sextant data in favor of typewritten alleged dead-reckoning data^[24][25]). This suggestion has been challenged by Dennis Rawlins, who adds that the sextant data in the long-unavailable original official typewritten report are all expressed to 1 second, a precision not possible on Navy sextants of 1926 and not the precision of the sextant data in Byrd's diary for 1925 or the 1926 flight, which was normal (half or quarter of a minute of arc).^[23]

If Byrd and Bennett did not reach the North Pole, then the first flight over the pole occurred a few days later, on May 12, 1926, with the flight of the airship Norge that flew from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) to Alaska nonstop with a crew including Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile, Oscar Wisting, and Lincoln Ellsworth.^[26][27]

First Antarctic expedition (1928–1930)

Flag used by Byrd in his Second Antarctic Expedition.

Fokker Super Universal of the Bryd Antarctic expedition of 1929

In 1928, Byrd began his first expedition to the Antarctic involving two ships and three airplanes: Byrd's flagship was the City of New York (a Norwegian sealing ship previously named Samson that had come into fame as a ship some said was in the vicinity of the Titanic when the latter was sinking) and the Eleanor Bolling (named after Byrd's mother); a Ford Trimotor airplane called the Floyd Bennett (named after the recently deceased pilot of Byrd's previous expeditions) flown by Dean Smith; a Fairchild FC-2W2, NX8006, built 1928, named Stars And Stripes (now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center); and a Fokker Super Universal monoplane called the Virginia (Byrd's birth state). A base camp named "Little America" was constructed on the Ross Ice Shelf, and scientific expeditions by snowshoe, dog sled, snowmobile, and airplane began.^[34] To increase the interest of youth in arctic exploration, a 19-year-old American Boy Scout, Paul Allman Siple, was chosen to accompany the expedition. Siple went on to earn an doctorate and was probably the only person, other than Byrd himself, to participate in all five of Byrd's Antarctic expeditions.

Byrd's expedition ship.

Photographic expeditions and geological surveys were undertaken for the duration of that summer, and constant radio communications were maintained with the outside world. After their first winter, their expeditions were resumed, and on November 28, 1929, the first flight to the South Pole and back was launched. Byrd, along with pilot Bernt Balchen, co-pilot/radioman Harold June, and photographer Ashley McKinley, flew the Floyd Bennett to the South Pole and back in 18 hours, 41 minutes. They had difficulty gaining enough altitude, and they had to dump empty gas tanks, as well as their emergency supplies, to achieve the altitude of the Polar Plateau, but they were ultimately successful.^[34]

In November 1929, Byrd participated in a privately financed expedition, where he headed the inaugural aircraft crew that successfully flew over the South Pole. Byrd strongly advocated for ski-equipped aircraft, despite the considerable operational, logistical, and maintenance challenges they posed, necessitating the establishment of significant onshore bases to address these issues.^[35]

Remains of Fokker aircraft in the Rockefeller Mountains, Antarctica, in 1993

As a result of his achievement, Byrd was promoted to the rank of rear admiral by a special act of Congress on December 21, 1929. As he was only 41 years old at the time, this promotion made Byrd the youngest admiral in the history of the United States Navy.^[36] By way of comparison, none of his Annapolis classmates became admirals until 1942, after 30 years of commissioned service. He is one of only three persons, one being Admiral David Dixon Porter and the other being Arctic explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan, to have been promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy without having first held the rank of captain.

After a further summer of exploration, the expedition returned to North America on June 18, 1930. Unlike the 1926 flight, this expedition was honored with the gold medal of the American Geographical Society. This was also seen in the film With Byrd at the South Pole (1930), which covered his trip there.

Byrd, by then an internationally recognized, pioneering American polar explorer and aviator, served for a time as Honorary National President (1931–1935) of Pi Gamma Mu, the international honor society in the social sciences. He carried the society's flag during his first Antarctic expedition to dramatize the spirit of adventure into the unknown, characterizing both the natural and social sciences.^[37][38]

To finance and gain both political and public support for his expeditions, Byrd actively cultivated relationships with many powerful individuals, including President Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Ford, Edsel Ford, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and Vincent Astor. As a token of his gratitude, Byrd named geographic features in the Antarctic after his supporters.

Second Antarctic expedition (1933-1934)

Antarctic Expedition 3 cent, issue of 1933. The basic design, featuring a map, was inspired by President F. D. Roosevelt.^[39]
See FDR sketch

On his second expedition during the winter of 1933-1934, (effectively it was summer below the equator) Byrd spent five months alone operating a meteorological station, Advance Base, from which he narrowly escaped with his life after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly ventilated stove. Unusual radio transmissions from Byrd finally began to alarm the men at the base camp, who then attempted to go to Advance Base. The first two trips were failures due to darkness, snow, and mechanical troubles. Finally, Thomas Poulter, E. J. Demas, and Amory Waite arrived at Advance Base, where they found Byrd in poor physical health. The men remained at Advance Base until October 12. when an airplane from the base camp picked up Dr. Poulter and Byrd. The rest of the men returned to base camp with the tractor.^[4] This expedition is described by Byrd in his autobiography Alone.^[40]

During the winter months the days were long and the evenings existed in twilight. Inside the exploration headquarters Byrd had fashioned a large calendar on the wall, where he would cross off each day as it passed.^[41]

A CBS radio station, KFZ, was set up on the base camp ship, the Bear of Oakland and The Adventures of Admiral Byrd program was short-waved to Buenos Aires, then relayed to New York.^[42]

In late 1938, Byrd visited Hamburg, and was invited to participate in the 1938/1939 German "Neuschwabenland" Antarctic Expedition, but declined. (Although Germany was not at war with the United States at this time, Adolf Hitler had been serving as Führer of the German Reich since 1934, and invaded Poland the next year.)

Byrd's Antarctic expedition prompted President Roosevelt and the U.S. Postmaster General to honor the event in 1933 on a U.S. commemorative stamp which greatly helped raise the funding needed to finance Byrd's expedition to the Antarctic. The expedition, via the Post Office, sold philatelic subscription Philatelic covers to be serviced at the official USPOD post office set up in the Antarctic exploration base, dubbed Little America, and which was officially established on October 6, 1933. All mail sent to the Antarctic required at least one Byrd II 3 cent stamp (pictured), along with sufficient postage amounting to 53 cents. The U.S. Post Office contracted with the expedition for this purpose as it had no other means to deliver mail to and from the Antarctic. Approximately 150,000 pieces of such mail went through the special Antarctic post office in 1933 to 1934. As only members of the post office were authorized to postmark and handle mail, Charles F. Anderson, a special representative of the Postmaster General, was assigned to the post office at Little America in Antarctica.^[39][43]

Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1940)

Byrd's third expedition was the first one financed and conducted by the United States government. The project included extensive studies of geology, biology, meteorology, and exploration. The innovative Antarctic Snow Cruiser was brought with the expedition, but broke down shortly after arriving.

Within a few months, in March 1940, Byrd was recalled to active duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. The expedition continued in Antarctica without him until the last of its participants left Antarctica on March 22, 1941.

Operation Highjump (1946–1947)

Cover of Byrd's autobiography

Admiral Byrd during Operation Deep Freeze I (Dec. 1955)

In 1946, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal appointed Byrd as officer in charge of Antarctic Developments Project. Byrd's fourth Antarctic expedition was code-named Operation Highjump.^[4] It was the largest Antarctic expedition to date and was expected to last 6–8 months.

The expedition was supported by a large naval force (designated Task Force 68), commanded by Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen. Thirteen US Navy support ships (besides the flagship USS Mount Olympus and the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea), six helicopters, six flying boats, two seaplane tenders, and 15 other aircraft were used. The total number of personnel involved was over 4,000.

The armada arrived in the Ross Sea on December 31, 1946, and made aerial explorations of an area half the size of the United States, recording 10 new mountain ranges. The major area covered was the eastern coastline of Antarctica from 150°E to the Greenwich meridian.

Admiral Byrd was interviewed by Lee van Atta of International News Service aboard the expedition's command ship USS Mount Olympus, in which he discussed the lessons learned from the operation. The interview appeared in the Wednesday, March 5, 1947, edition of the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, and read in part:

Admiral Richard E. Byrd warned today that the United States should adopt measures of protection against the possibility of an invasion of the country by hostile planes coming from the polar regions. The admiral explained that he was not trying to scare anyone, but the cruel reality is that in case of a new war, the United States could be attacked by planes flying over one or both poles. This statement was made as part of a recapitulation of his own polar experience, in an exclusive interview with International News Service. Talking about the recently completed expedition, Byrd said that the most important result of his observations and discoveries is the potential effect that they have in relation to the security of the United States. The fantastic speed with which the world is shrinking – recalled the admiral – is one of the most important lessons learned during his recent Antarctic exploration. I have to warn my compatriots that the time has ended when we were able to take refuge in our isolation and rely on the certainty that the distances, the oceans, and the poles were a guarantee of safety.^[47][48]

In 1948, the U.S. Navy produced a documentary about Operation Highjump named The Secret Land. The film shows live-action footage of the operation, along with a few re-enacted scenes. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

On December 8, 1954, Byrd appeared on the television show Longines Chronoscope. He was interviewed by Larry LeSueur and Kenneth Crawford about his Antarctic voyages, and said that Antarctica, in the future, would become the most important place in the world for science.^[49]

Operation Deep Freeze I (1955–1956)

Rear Admiral Byrd (circa 1955)

As part of the multinational collaboration for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) 1957–58, Byrd was appointed as officer in charge of the U.S. Navy Operation Deep Freeze I in 1955–56, which established permanent Antarctic bases at McMurdo Sound, the Bay of Whales, and the South Pole. This was Byrd's last trip to Antarctica, and marked the beginning of a permanent U.S. military presence in Antarctica. Byrd spent only one week in the Antarctic, and started his return to the United States on February 3, 1956.^[50]

Decorations and medals

Note – The dates on the table below are the year the award was received and not necessarily the year of the actions the award recognizes.

^[46]

Byrd was posthumously eligible for the Antarctic Service Medal, established in 1960, for his participation in the Antarctic expeditions Operation Highjump (1946 to 1947) and Operation Deep Freeze (1955 to 1956).

Byrd also received numerous other awards from governmental and private entities in the United States.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Commander, United States Navy. Born: October 25, 1888, Winchester, Va. Appointed from: Virginia.

Citation

For distinguishing himself conspicuously by courage and intrepidity at the risk of his life, in demonstrating that it is possible for aircraft to travel in continuous flight from a now inhabited portion of the earth over the North Pole and return.

Byrd, along with Machinist Floyd Bennett, was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Calvin Coolidge on March 5, 1927.

Navy Cross citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, in that on November 28, 1929 he took off in his "Floyd Bennett" from the Expedition's base at Little America, Antarctica and, after a flight made under the most difficult conditions he reached the South Pole on November 29, 1929. After flying some distance beyond this point he returned to his base at Little America. This hazardous flight was made under extreme conditions of cold, over ranges and plateaus extending nine to ten thousand feet above sea level and beyond probable rescue of personnel had a forced landing occurred. Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, U.S.N, Retired, was in command of this flight, navigated the airplane, made the mandatory preparations for the flight, and through his untiring energy, superior leadership, and excellent judgment the flight was brought to a successful conclusion.

First Distinguished Service Medal citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States, in demonstrating, by his courage and professional ability that heavier-than-air craft could in continuous flight travel to the North Pole and return.

General Orders: Letter Dated August 6, 1926

Second Distinguished Service Medal citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States as Commanding Officer of the U.S. Antarctic Service. Rear Admiral Byrd did much toward the difficult task of organizing the expedition, which was accomplished in one fourth of the time generally necessary for such undertakings. In spite of a short operating season, he established two Antarctic bases 1,500 miles apart, where valuable scientific and economic investigations are now being carried on. With the USS Bear, he penetrated unknown and dangerous seas where important discoveries were made; in addition to which he made four noteworthy flights, resulting in the discovery of new mountain ranges, islands, more than a hundred thousand square miles of area, a peninsula and 700 miles of hitherto unknown stretches of the Antarctic coast. The operations of the Antarctic Service have been a credit to the Government of the United States. His qualities of leadership and unselfish devotion to duty are in accordance with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

First Legion of Merit citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States while in command of a Special Navy Mission to the Pacific from August 27, 1943, to December 5, 1943, when thirty-three islands of the Pacific were surveyed or investigated for the purpose of recommending air base sites of value to the United States for its defense or for the development of post-war civil aviation. In this service Admiral Byrd exercised fine leadership in gaining the united effort of civilian, Army, and Navy experts. He displayed courage, initiative, vision, and a high order of ability in obtain data and in submitting reports which will be of great present and future value to the National Defense and to the Government of the United States in the post-war period.

Action Date: August 27 – December 5, 1943

Second Legion of Merit citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Confidential Advisor to the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations from March 26, 1942 to May 10, 1942, August 14, 1942 to August 26, 1943, and from December 6, 1943 to October 1, 1945. In the performance of his duty Rear Admiral Byrd served in the Navy Department and in various areas outside the continental limits of the United States, employed on special missions on the fighting fronts in Europe and the Pacific. In all assignments his thoroughness, attention to detail, keen discernment, professional judgment and zeal produced highly successful results. His wise counsel, sound advice and foresight in planning constituted a material contribution to the war effort and to the success of the United States Navy. The performance of duty of Rear Admiral Byrd was at all times in keeping with the highest traditions and reflected credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.

General Orders: Board Serial 176P00 (February 4, 1946)

Action Date: March 26, 1942 – October 1, 1945

Distinguished Flying Cross citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight; in recognition of his courage, resourcefulness and skill as Commander of the expedition which flew the airplane "America" from New York City to France from June 29 to July 1, 1927, across the Atlantic Ocean under extremely adverse weather conditions which made a landing in Paris impossible; and finally for his discernment and courage in directing his plane to a landing at Ver sur Mer, France, without serious injury to his personnel, after a flight of 39 hours and 56 minutes.

Action Date: June 29 – July 1, 1927

Letter of Commendation

He rendered valuable service as Secretary and Organizer of the Navy Department Commission on Training Camps, and trained men in aviation in the ground school in Pensacola, and in charge of rescue parties and afterwards in charge of air forces in Canada.

— Awarded for service from 1917 to 1918 during World War I.^[65]

Further reading

• "The North Pole Flight of Richard E. Byrd: An Overview of the Controversy". Polar Archival Program, Ohio State University. 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
• "Richard E. Byrd's 1926 Flight Towards the North Pole" (PDF). October 25, 2007.
• Byrd, Richard Evelyn; Goerler, Raimund Erhard (1998). To the Pole: The Diary and Notebook of Richard E. Byrd, 1925–1927. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814208007.
• "The Flight of the 'America' – 1927". October 25, 2007.
• "Richard E. Byrd 1888–1957". October 25, 2007.
• "A navigation expert's look at how Byrd's claim is one possible interpretation of his diary". October 25, 2007. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• "At the bottom of the World", Popular Mechanics, August 1930, pp. 225–41