Richard Evelyn Byrd
October 25, 1888 - March 11, 1957
Place of birth	Winchester, Virginia
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1912
Rank	Rear Admiral
Awards	Medal of Honor Navy Cross Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross Legion of Merit

Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, USN (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was a pioneering American polar explorer, famous aviator and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Early Years

Richard Evelyn Byrd was born into one of Virginia's First Families in Winchester, Virginia, and is a direct descendant of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. His parents were Richard Evelyn Byrd and Eleanor Bolling Flood. A descendant of William Byrd II of Westover Plantation (founder of Richmond, Virginia), his brother was Harry Flood Byrd who became a Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senator. He has no relationship to West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd.

Richard E. Byrd attended the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia before financial circumstances inspired his enrollment and graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1912. He learned to fly in World War I during his tour with the United States Navy. He developed a passion for flight, and pioneered many techniques for navigating airplanes over the open ocean including drift indicators and bubble sextants. His expertise in this area resulted in his appointment to plan the flight path for the U.S. Navy's 1919 transatlantic crossing. Of the three flying boats that attempted it, only Albert Read's aircraft the NC-4 completed the trip; becoming the first ever transatlantic flight.

North Pole flight, 1926

On May 9, 1926, Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole. Byrd claimed to have achieved the pole, Floyd denied this^[1] . This trip earned Byrd widespread acclaim, including being awarded the Medal of Honor, and enabled him to secure funding for subsequent attempts on the South Pole.

Norwegian-American aviator and explorer Bernt Balchen cast doubt on Byrd's claim based on his personal knowledge of the airplane's speed; Balchen speculated that Byrd had simply circled aimlessly while out of sight of land.^[2]

The discovery of Byrd's diary of the flight in 1996 revealed erased (but still legible) sextant sights that sharply differ with Byrd's later typewritten official report. Dennis Rawlins has concluded on that basis that Byrd did travel most of the way to the Pole before turning back.

An alternate reading of Byrd's notes suggests that a tailwind may have been possible in both directions, allowing the distance claimed to be covered in the time claimed.^[3] This suggestion has been refuted by Dennis Rawlins.^[4]

It is claimed that Byrd confessed his failure to reach the North Pole during a long walk with Dr Isaiah Bowman in 1930.^[5]

Trans-Atlantic flight, 1927

Byrd was one of several aviators who attempted to win the Orteig Prize in 1927 for making the first nonstop flight between the United States and France. Once again Byrd named Floyd Bennett as his chief pilot, with support from Bernt Balchen, Bert Acosta, and George Noville. During a practice takeoff with Bennett alone at the controls, the Fokker Trimotor airplane, America, crashed, severely injuring Bennett. As the plane was being repaired, Charles Lindbergh won the prize. But Byrd continued with his quest, naming Balchen to replace Bennett as chief pilot. Byrd, Balchen, Acosta, and Noville flew from Roosevelt Field East Garden City, New York on June 29, 1927. Arriving over France, cloud cover prevented a landing in Paris; they returned to the coast of Normandy, crash-landing without injury on July 1, 1927.^[6]

First Antarctic expedition, 1928-1930

In 1928, Byrd began his first expedition to the Antarctic involving two ships and three airplanes. A base camp named "Little America" was constructed on the Ross Ice Shelf and scientific expeditions by dog-sled, snowmobile, and airplane began. 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 29, 1929, the famous 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, in order to achieve the altitude of the Polar Plateau. However, the flight was successful, and it entered Byrd into the history books. After a further summer of exploration, the expedition returned to North America on June 18, 1930.

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. In 1928, he carried the Society's flag during a historic expedition to the Antarctic to dramatize the spirit of adventure into the unknown, characterizing both the natural and social sciences.

Byrd's later Antarctic expeditions

Byrd undertook four more expeditions to Antarctica from 1933–35, 1939–40, 1946–47 and 1955–56.

As a senior officer in the U.S. Navy, Byrd, performed national defense service during World War II (1941-45), mostly as a consultant to the U.S.N. high commanders.

On his second expedition, in 1934, Byrd spent five winter 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, Dr. Thomas Poulter, E.J. Demas, and Amory Waite arrived at advanced base, where they found Byrd in poor physical health. The men remained at advanced 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. In late 1938, Byrd visited Hamburg and was invited to participate in the 1938/1939 German "Neuschwabenland" Antarctic Expedition, but declined.

Byrd's third expedition was his first one on which he had the official backing of the U.S. government. The project included extensive studies of geology, biology, meteorology and exploration. 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. From 1942 to 1945 he headed important missions to the Pacific, including surveys of remote islands for airfields. On one assignment he visited the fighting front in Europe. He was repeatedly cited for meritorious service and was present at the Japanese surrender.

The fourth culminating expedition, Operation Highjump, was the largest Antarctic expedition to date. Conspiracy theorists specializing in alleged Aryan or Nazi activities in Antarctica have extensively speculated about this mission. In 1946, US Navy Secretary James Forrestal assembled a huge amphibious naval force for an Antarctic Expedition expected to last six to eight months. Besides the flagship Mount Olympus and the aircraft carrier Philippine Sea, there were thirteen US Navy support ships, six helicopters, six flying boats, two seaplane tenders and fifteen other aircraft. The total number of personnel involved was over 4,000. The armada arrived in the Ross Sea on 31 December 1946, and made aerial explorations of an area half the size of the United States, recording ten new mountain ranges. The major area covered was the eastern coastline of Antarctica from 150 degrees east to the Greenwich meridian. The expedition was terminated abruptly at the end of February 1947, six months early, the entire remaining armada returning immediately to the United States. The early termination of the mission was never explained.

Awards, decorations, honors

By the time Richard Byrd died on March 12 1957, he had amassed twenty-two citations and special commendations, nine of which were for bravery and two for extraordinary heroism in saving the lives of others. In addition, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Congressional Life Saving Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Navy Cross, and had three ticker-tape parades. He preferred to dwell on the substance of his global adventures, and the stories of those that had gone awry as lessons learned.

In 1927, the City of Richmond dedicated the Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field, now Richmond International Airport, in Henrico County, Virginia. Byrd's Fairchild FC-2W2, NX8006, "Stars And Stripes" is on display at the Virginia Aviation Museum located on the north side of the airport, on loan from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Mount Byrd on Ross Island, Antarctica and Lunar crater Byrd are named after him, as was the United States Navy dry cargo ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE-4) and the now decommissioned Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23)

In Glen Rock New Jersey there is Richard E. Byrd school which was dedicated in 1931. The Polar Research Center at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio was named in honor of Admiral Byrd in 1984.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd Middle School, located in Frederick County, Va was opened in 2005. The school is decorated with pictures and letters from Byrd's life and career.There is a Richard E. Byrd Middle school in Sun Valley, California.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy. Born: 25 October 1888, Winchester, Va. Appointed from: Virginia. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with gold star, Distinguished Flying Cross.

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.

Family

Admiral Byrd was married (20 January 1915) to the former Marie Donaldson Ames [he named a region of Antarctic land he discovered “Marie Byrd Land”] and had four children - Richard Evelyn Jr., (grandchildren Leverett S. Byrd, Ames Byrd and Harry Flood Byrd II); Evelyn Bolling Byrd Clarke (grandchildren Evelyn Byrd Clarke, Marie Ames Clarke, Eleanor Clarke & Richard Byrd Clarke); Catherine Agnes Byrd Breyer(grandchildren Robert Byrd Breyer & Katherine Ames Breyer); and Helen Byrd Stabler (grandchildren David Stabler & Ann Blanchard Stabler).

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• List of Medal of Honor recipients: Peacetime
• List of military decorations
• Laurence McKinley Gould

References

1. ^ Nasht, Simon (2005). The Last Explorer. Hodder, 149. 
2. ^ Montague, Richard (1971). Oceans, Poles, and Airmen. Random House, 48. 
3. ^ Portney, Joseph. The Polar Flap. NavWorld.com.
4. ^ Rawlins, Dennis (January 2000). Byrd’s Heroic 1926 Flight & Its Faked Last Leg (PDF). DOI. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
5. ^ Fairbanks (2002). Polar Extremesm the world of Lincoln Ellsworth. University of Alaska Press), Chapter 4. 
6. ^ Check-Six.com - The Ditching of the "America"

• Time (magazine); Monday, November 8, 1926. Born. To Mrs. Marie Ames Byrd, of Winchester, Virginia, and Boston, a daughter. Mrs. Byrd is the wife of Lieut. Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd, U.S.N., who flew to the North Pole and back from Spitsbergen last spring. Lieutenant Byrd's brother, Harry F. Byrd, is Governor of Virginia.

External links

• The North Pole Flight of Richard E. Byrd: An Overview of the Controversy. Polar Archival Program, Ohio State University (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
• 70South - information on Richard E. Byrd
• Richard E. Byrd's 1926 Flight Towards the North Pole
• To the Pole: The Diary and Notebook of Richard E. Byrd, 1925–1927.
• The Flight of the 'America' - 1927
• Richard E. Byrd 1888-1957.
• Did Richard Byrd get to the North Pole in 1926?
• A navigation expert's look at how Byrd's claim is one possible interpretation of his diary.
• Alone Byrd's 1938 account of his 1934 winter at Advance Base

• The Guided Missile Destroyer USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23)
• Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd
• Richard Evelyn Byrd at Find A Grave
• The Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University
• http://www.reversespins.com/byrd.html - allegedly contains a part of Byrd's "missing" diary, describing the "mysterious events" of his Arctic flight

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