Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer,
Marriage
On January 20, 1915, Richard married Marie 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 Joseph Ames. 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
Education and early naval career
Byrd attended the Virginia Military Institute for two years and transferred to the University of Virginia, before financial circumstances inspired his starting over and taking an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, where he was appointed as a midshipman on May 28, 1908.
During this expedition, Byrd made the acquaintance of Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett and Norwegian pilot Bernt Balchen, both of whom would later contribute to Byrd's expeditions. Bennett served as a pilot in his flight to the North Pole the next year. Balchen, whose knowledge of Arctic flight operations proved invaluable, was the primary pilot on Byrd's flight to the South Pole in 1929.
1926 North Pole flight
thumb|right|The Fokker F.VII of Byrd and Bennett in flight
On May 9, 1926, Byrd and Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F.VIIa/3m tri-motor monoplane named Josephine Ford after the daughter of Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford, who helped finance the expedition. In addition to Ford contributions, John D. Rockefeller also notably provided funding for the expedition. The flight left from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and returned to its takeoff airfield, lasting 15 hours and 57 minutes, including 13 minutes spent circling at their Farthest North.
Once again, Byrd named Floyd Bennett as his chief pilot, with Norwegian Bernt Balchen, Bert Acosta, and Lieutenant George Noville as other crewmembers. During a practice takeoff with Anthony Fokker at the controls and Bennett in the co-pilot seat, the Fokker Trimotor airplane, America, crashed, severely injuring Bennett and slightly injuring Byrd. As the plane was being repaired, Charles Lindbergh won the prize by completing his historic flight on May 21, 1927. (Coincidentally, in 1925, then Army Air Service Reserve Corps Lieutenant Charles Lindbergh had applied to serve as a pilot on Byrd's North Pole expedition, but apparently, his bid came too late.)
thumb|upright=1.2|left|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.<br />See FDR sketch]]
On his second expedition during the Southern Hemisphere summer of 1933–1934, (winter in the United States, in the Northern Hemisphere), 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.
During the summer 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.
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.
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 postage stamp is numbered 753 in the Scott's Catalog. 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.
In late 1938, Byrd visited Hamburg, where he was invited by Alfred Ritscher, leader of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39, to present his Antarctic film to the expedition members. According to German historian Heinz Schön, Byrd answered questions and offered practical advice to the scientists and aircrew based on his polar experience. The event was held privately, with no press present.
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.
World War II
thumb|right|alt=Letter from Admiral Byrd to Commanding Officer, USS Concord, commemorating the loss of 24 men during the special mission, September–November 1943|Letter from RADM Richard E. Byrd to Captain Irving R. Chambers, Commanding Officer, USS Concord, commemorating the loss of 24 men during Byrd's special mission to reconnoiter South Sea islands during September–December 1943.As a senior officer in the United States Navy, Byrd was recalled on active duty on March 26, 1942, and served as the confidential advisor to Admiral Ernest J. King. From 1942 to 1945 he served on the South Pacific Island Base Inspection Board, which toured bases in the South Pacific in May and June 1942. The report submitted by the Board describes conditions found at each base and analyses, lessons learned in planning and equipping these bases. The report contains recommendations applicable to the individual bases and others designed to be helpful in the planning of future advanced bases.
On 1 September 1943, in compliance with a series of letters from the President to the Secretary of the Navy, the Commander-in-Chief United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations ordered Byrd to assume direction of a survey and "investigation of certain islands in the East and South Pacific in connection with national defense and commercial air bases and routes." The members of the Special Navy Mission sailed from Balboa, Canal Zone, on USS Concord, Captain Irving Reynold Chambers, commanding, in September 1943. A large explosion at sea on October 7, 1943, took the lives of 24 Concord crewmen, including the executive officer, Commander Rogers Elliott. Caused by ignition of gasoline fumes at the stern of the ship, the explosion threw some men overboard, while others were killed from concussion, burns, fractured skulls and broken necks. Several sailors died while trying to save their shipmates. The dead were buried at sea on October 8. On October 23, 1943, Byrd wrote a letter from Nuku Hiva (the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia) to Chambers, the ship's commanding officer, commending him and his crew "for the courage and efficiency" displayed following the explosion that made Byrd "feel proud to be an American. Great heroism was displayed, especially by the men who lost their lives rescuing the wounded." Byrd completed the Special Mission in December and participated in the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) in 1944 to 1945.
On February 10, 1945, Byrd received the Order of Christopher Columbus from the government of the Dominican Republic.
Memberships
Byrd was an active Freemason. He was raised (became a Master Mason) in Federal Lodge No. 1, Washington, D.C., on March 19, 1921, and affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 454, New York City, September 18, 1928. He was a member of National Sojourners Chapter No. 3 at Washington. In 1930, Byrd was awarded a gold medal by Kane Lodge.
In Glen Rock, New Jersey, Richard E. Byrd School was dedicated in 1931.
On March 31, 1934, during a regularly scheduled broadcast, Admiral Byrd was awarded the CBS Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Radio. Byrd's short-wave relay broadcasts, from his second Antarctic expedition, established a new chapter of communication history. Byrd was the sixth individual to receive this award.
The long-range short-wave voice transmissions from Byrd's Antarctic expedition in 1934 were named an IEEE Milestone in 2001.
In Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, Byrd and the Little America bases are the final stop in Marian Graves' journey to circle the globe by flight over the North and South Poles.
Military awards
Admiral Byrd was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy. He is, probably, the only individual to receive the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Life Saving Medal. He also was one of a very few individuals to receive all three Antarctic expedition medals issued for expeditions prior to the Second World War.
Decorations and medals
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|colspan="9"|200px
|-
|colspan="9"|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|}
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.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="9"|Naval Aviator Badge<br />(1917)
|-
!1st Row
|colspan="9"|Medal of Honor<br />(1926)
|-
!2nd Row
|colspan="3"|Navy Cross <br />(1929)
|colspan="3"|Navy Distinguished Service Medal <br />with award star<br />(1926, 1941)
|colspan="3"|Legion of Merit<br />with award star<br />(1943, 1946)
|-
!3rd Row
|colspan="3"|Distinguished Flying Cross<br />(1927)
|colspan="3"|Navy Commendation Medal<br />with two stars<br />(1944)
|colspan="3"|Silver Lifesaving Medal<br />(1914)
|-
!4th Row
|colspan="3"|Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal<br />issued in Gold <br />(1930)
<!-- -->
</references>
Bibliography
<!-- -->
<!-- -->
<!-- -->
- Little America: Aerial Exploration in the Antarctic The Flight to the South Pole (1930)
<!-- -->
- Discovery: The Story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1935)
<!-- -->
<!-- -->
<!-- -->
Further reading
- "At the bottom of the World", Popular Mechanics, August 1930, pp. 225–41
External links
- Richard Evelyn Byrd letter, MSS 420 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
- Byrd's Decorations at Military Times via Internet Archive.
- and from Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: on YouTube.
- The Papers of Richard E. Byrd at Dartmouth College Library
- Philip White Scrapbooks and Correspondence on Admiral Richard Byrd and the Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928–1933 at Dartmouth College Library
- Frederick G. Dustin logbook of Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition at Dartmouth College Library
- The Papers of Thomas B. Mulroy on Richard E. Byrd's Antarctic Expedition at Dartmouth College
- https://archive.org/details/page_1_202605 Adding primary source for Byrd interview to "El Mercurio", Admiral Byrd interview, USS Mount Olympus, 1947 Chile newspaper