Historic Marker # 54, Richard E. Byrd Historic Monument - Antarctic Points of Interest on Waymarking.com

Richard Evelyne Byrd, Rear Admiral, Unites States Navy, was born at Winchester, Virginia, on October 25, 1888. He was 1912 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He earned the Medal of Honor for his exploits in polar exploration. He died in Boston on March 11, 1957.
There is a memorial to his memory on Memorial Drive, just outside of the gates of Arlington and he is buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.

It is not possible to know the history of the Polar Regions or undertake scientific investigation of the areas without being aware of Admiral Richard E. Byrd or benefitting from his contributions. As a navigational aviator, Byrd pioneered in the technology that would be the foundation for modern polar exploration and investigation. As a decorated and much celebrated hero, Byrd drew popular attention to areas of the world that would become focal points of scientific investigation in numerous disciplines. Finally, as a naval officer Admiral Byrd contributed to the role of government in sponsoring and facilitating research in Polar Regions and topics.
Richard E. Byrd first made his mark in the U.S. Navy. Graduating with the class of 1912 from the U.S. Naval Academy, he served in the battleship fleet until forced into medical retirement in 1916 from the after-effects of a smashed ankle suffered while a midshipman. Recalled to active duty in a retired status, he organized the Commission on Training Camps. In April 1918 he won his wings as Naval Aviator 608.
From the start of his flying career he demonstrated unusual ability. Byrd pioneered the technique of night-time landings of seaplanes on the ocean and flew out over the horizon, out of sight of land, and navigated back to his base. In 1918 he proposed flying the newly built NC-1 flying boats across the Atlantic to the war zone in France. His war service was in Canada as Commander, U.S. Naval Air Forces with responsibility for two air bases in Nova Scotia.
With the conclusion of hostilities, Byrd was called to Washington and made responsible for the navigational preparations for the transatlantic flight attempt of the NC flying boats in l9l9. He was a skilled officer in representing Navy interests under consideration by the Congress. Byrd won wide acclaim for directing the lobbying effort that resulted in the first post-war pay-raise for military personnel. Byrd was also invaluable in the long campaign of naval aviators to establish a Bureau of Aeronautics.

Interested in polar exploration from childhood, his adult involvement began in 1924 when he was appointed navigator for the proposed transpolar flight of the Navy's dirigible Shenandoah from Alaska to Spitzbergen. When the flight was canceled by President Coolidge, Byrd began to organize his own Navy flight expedition to the Arctic. He was compelled to join forces with the MacMillan Expedition to northwest Greenland sponsored by the National Geographic Society in 1925. At that time Byrd completed the first flights over Ellsmere Island and the interior of Greenland.
In 1926 he took leave from the Navy to organize a privately financed expedition to the Arctic, which was to be based in Spitzbergen. Plans included several flights over the pack ice, including one to the North Pole. Supported by Edsel Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the New York Times and others, Byrd and his pilot, Floyd Bennett, claimed to have reached the North Pole on May 9, 1926. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor after their return to the United States. In later years scholars have raised questions about the success of the expedition in flying over the North Pole.

Cheered by the outpouring of public support and admiration, Byrd continued his leave from the Navy. With commercial sponsorship, he completed the first multi-engine airplane crossing of the Atlantic to France. Byrd then turned his sights to Antarctica in 1928. During the remaining years of his life he was involved in five expeditions to Antarctica. These explorations accounted for the discovery of hundreds of thousands of square miles of territory which were claimed for the United States. He personified the inception of the mechanical era of Antarctic exploration. No other person in Antarctic history has contributed more to the geographic discovery of the continent than Byrd.

With highly visible accomplishments, he thrilled millions and raised large amounts of funding. He flew over the South Pole in November 1929. He spent most of the winter of 1934 alone in a meteorological hut some 100 miles into the interior. His winter weather observations were the first taken from the interior. This effort almost cost Byrd his life when he was poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes.
Byrd remained a promoter of Antarctic exploration. He merged his plans for a third private expedition with governmental plans and became the commanding officer of the United States Antarctic Service. With the onset of World War II he returned to active service and earned two decorations as the Chief of Naval Operations.
In the early post-war years, Byrd participated in the organization of the U.S. Navy Antarctic Developments Project in 1946-47 (Operation Highjump) He supervised the preparation of a study for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Greenland as a site for military training and operations. In his final years he was called again to serve the nation as Officer in Charge of United States Antarctic Programs. This responsibility gave him authority to coordinate government supported scientific, logistic and political work in Antarctica. Admiral Byrd remained an influential figure in polar research until his death in 1957.

Text BELOW the bust engraved in marble:
I am hopeful that Antarctica in its symbolic robe of white will shine forth as a continent of peace as nations working together there in the cause of science set an example of international cooperation.

To all who follow in admiral Byrd's footsteps, this monument is dedicated.
National Geographic Society


Text of LEFT PLAQUE by the monument:

The United States Navy’s role in exploring and understanding Antarctica is without parallel. Its Unites States Exploring Expedition proved in 1839-1840 that Antarctica is a continent. The First and Second Byrd Antarctic Expeditions, 1928-1930 and 1933-1935, greatly increased official and popular U.S. interest in the region. Operation Highjump, 1946-1947, remains the largest Antarctic exploring expedition. Operation Windmill, 1947-1948, provided mapping control for large areas.

The Naval Support Force, Antarctica, was established on 1 February 1955. Operation Deep Freeze I-IV, 1955-1959, supported U.S. Antarctic participation in the International Geophysical Year and initiated permanent human occupation of the geographic South Pole and the highest-latitude harbor in the Southern Hemisphere.

From 1960 to 1998 the United States Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze provided support throughout the Antarctic to uncounted hundreds of U.S. and international teams addressing research questions of fundamental scientific and societal importance.

On the occasion of the disestablishment of the Naval Support Force, Antarctica, 12 March 1998, the National Science Foundation, manager, United States Antarctic Program, dedicates this plaque to the men and women of the United States Navy who served their nation in Antarctica with courage, sacrifice, and devotion.

Text of RIGHT PLAQUE by Monument
This memorial commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Operation Highjump, Task Force 68, Byrd Antarctic Expedition IV, is dedicated to those who lost their life in the line of duty during exploration of the Antarctic continent and construction of Little America IV from 15 October 1946 through 28 February 1947.

“The sailors of the world looked long at the Antarctic. Her death and her eternal cold, and the strong men of the sea sailed South.”

Ensign Maxwell Albert Lopez, Newport, Rhode Island, USA.
Machinist Mate Frederick Warren Williams, Huntington, Tennessee, USA
Radioman First Class Wendell K. Hendersin, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

Died in the crash of their PBM Mariner reconnaissance aircraft
(George I) in the Novelle Mountain Range in the area 70-30’ S.
98-47’ W on the Antarctic Continent 29 December 1946
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Seamen First Class Vance Woodall, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

A member of the USS Yancey (AKA-93), Seaman Woodall was
Fatally injured when he lost his footing and fell from a D-8 tractor while
Assigned to a working party constructing Little America IV on 21 January 1947.

*******************************************************************************
Dedicated the twelve day of October, 1996, at Norfolk, Va., USA by members of Operation Highjump, Task Force 68

USS Burton (AGB-1) USS Brownson (DD-868) USS Cacapon(AO-52)
USS Canisteo (AO-99) USS Currituck (AV-7) USS Henderson (DD785)
USS Merrick (AKA-99) USS Northwind (WAGB-282) USS Mt Olympus (AGC-8)
USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) USS Pine Island (AV-12) USS Sennett (SS-407)
Uss Yancey (AKA-93) UDT-4

Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees)
U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Tractor Test & Experimental Group
U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps & Coast Guard Photographic Units

Type of Waymark: Historic Monument (On Continent)

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