Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, early pilot, polar explorer, and planner for polar expeditions. He flew planes as a navigator and leader on trips that crossed the Atlantic Ocean, part of the Arctic Ocean, and part of the Antarctic Plateau. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest inactive volcano in Antarctica.

Byrd claimed to be the first person to reach both the North and South Poles by air. However, there is some debate about whether he was truly the first to reach the North Pole. Many believe the distance he said he flew was longer than his airplane could travel with the fuel available.

He received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award in the United States Armed Forces, and the Navy Cross, the second-highest honor for bravery given by the U.S. Navy.

Family

Richard Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, to Esther Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. He was a relative of one of Virginia’s First Families. His ancestors included John Rolfe, who was a planter, and Pocahontas, his wife. Other ancestors were William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who helped establish Richmond, and William Byrd I and Robert "King" Carter, a colonial governor. He was also related to George Yeardley, Francis Wyatt, and Samuel Argall. Richard was the brother of Harry F. Byrd, who later became a Virginia governor and U.S. senator. Their father once served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.

On January 20, 1915, Richard married Marie Ames, who died in 1974. He named a region in Antarctica "Marie Byrd Land" after her and a mountain range, the Ames Range, after her father, Joseph Ames. The couple 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 Beacon Hill neighborhood. The house was bought by Marie’s father, a wealthy industrialist.

Richard was friends with Edsel Ford and his father, Henry Ford. Their admiration for his polar adventures helped the Ford Motor Company support his expeditions.

He owned a dog named Igloo, who traveled with him to the North and South poles. Igloo is buried at the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery with a tombstone that reads, "He was more than a friend."

Education and early naval career

Byrd studied at the Virginia Military Institute for two years and then moved to the University of Virginia. Due to financial difficulties, he decided to start over and joined the United States Naval Academy. He became a midshipman on May 28, 1908.

On June 8, 1912, Byrd graduated from the Naval Academy and was given the rank of ensign in the U.S. Navy. On July 14, 1912, he was assigned to the battleship USS Wyoming. While serving in the Caribbean Sea, Byrd received his first letter of commendation and later earned a Silver Lifesaving Medal for saving a sailor who had fallen overboard twice by jumping into the water fully dressed. In April 1914, he moved to the armored cruiser USS Washington and served in Mexican waters in June after the United States intervened in April.

Byrd’s next assignment was to the gunboat USS Dolphin, which also acted as the yacht for the Secretary of the Navy. This role allowed him to meet important people, including then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on June 8, 1915. During his time on Dolphin, he was commanded by future Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, who later became chief of staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Byrd’s final assignment before being forced to retire was to the presidential yacht USS Mayflower.

On March 15, 1916, Byrd was medically retired and received three-quarters of his pay due to an ankle injury he suffered while serving on Mayflower. Soon after, on December 14, 1916, he was assigned as the inspector and instructor for the Rhode Island Naval Militia in Providence, Rhode Island. While in this position, he was praised by Brigadier General Charles W. Abbot, the adjutant general of Rhode Island, for significantly improving the efficiency of the militia.

First World War

After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Byrd helped prepare the Rhode Island Naval Militia for war. He was then called back to active duty and worked in the Office of Naval Operations. His job involved organizing the Navy Department Commission on Training Camps. In the fall of 1917, he attended naval aviation school in Pensacola, Florida. In June 1918, he became a naval aviator, numbered 608. From July 1918 until the end of the war in November, he led naval air forces at Naval Air Station Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. During this time, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant permanently and to lieutenant commander temporarily.

For his work during the war, he received a letter of praise from Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. This letter was later changed into a Navy Commendation Medal after World War II.

After the war

After the war, Byrd volunteered to join the U.S. Navy's 1919 aerial transatlantic crossing. This mission was important because it was the first time an aircraft crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Only men who had not served overseas were allowed to participate. However, Byrd’s time in Newfoundland was considered overseas service, so he could not join the flight. Despite this, Byrd used his skills in aerial navigation to help plan the mission’s flight path. Of the three flying boats (NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4) that started from Newfoundland, only Lieutenant Commander Albert Read’s NC-4 completed the trip on May 18, 1919, making the first transatlantic flight.

In 1921, Byrd volunteered to try a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, which happened six years before Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight. However, the acting Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., believed the risks were too high and stopped Byrd from attempting the flight. Byrd was then assigned to the ill-fated dirigible ZR-2, which had previously been the British airship R-38. Byrd missed the train that would have taken him to the airship on August 24, 1921. The airship broke apart midair, killing 44 of the 49 people on board. Byrd lost several friends in the accident and helped with recovery efforts and the investigation. The tragedy deeply affected him and made him focus on safety in all his future expeditions.

Because of budget cuts in the Navy after World War I, Byrd was reduced to the rank of lieutenant at the end of 1921. In the summer of 1923, Lieutenant Byrd and a group of Navy veterans from World War I helped establish the Naval Reserve Air Station (NRAS) at Squantum Point near Boston. They used an old seaplane hangar from World War I that had survived the construction of the Victory Destroyer Plant shipyard. NRAS Squantum was officially opened on August 15, 1923, and is considered the first air base in the Naval Reserve program.

In 1925, Byrd led the aviation unit of an Arctic expedition to North Greenland under Donald B. MacMillan. Although the expedition did not reach the North Pole, Byrd’s work and the aviation team’s contributions helped him gain recognition as an early pioneer of using aircraft in exploration.

During this expedition, Byrd met Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett and Norwegian pilot Bernt Balchen. Both men later helped with Byrd’s expeditions. Bennett was a pilot on Byrd’s flight to the North Pole the following year. Balchen, who had valuable knowledge of Arctic flying, was the main pilot on Byrd’s flight to the South Pole in 1929.

1926 North Pole flight

On May 9, 1926, Richard Byrd and Navy pilot Floyd Bennett tried to fly over the North Pole in a plane called Josephine Ford. The plane was named after Edsel Ford’s daughter, who helped fund the trip. John D. Rockefeller also gave money for the expedition. The flight started from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and returned to the same airfield. It lasted 15 hours and 57 minutes, including 13 minutes spent circling at their farthest point north. Byrd and Bennett claimed they reached the North Pole, which is 1,535 miles (1,335 nautical miles) away.

After returning to the United States, Byrd became a national hero. A parade was held for him in New York City. Congress passed a special law on December 21, 1926, promoting Byrd to the rank of commander and giving both him and Bennett the Medal of Honor. The Josephine Ford was flown around the country to celebrate. Bennett was promoted to the rank of machinist. On March 5, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge presented Byrd and Bennett with special versions of the Medal of Honor at the White House.

Since 1926, people have debated whether Byrd and Bennett actually reached the North Pole. In 1958, Bernt Balchen, a Norwegian-American pilot, questioned Byrd’s claim based on the plane’s speed. Balchen said Bennett had later told him that they did not reach the pole. Bennett had not fully recovered from a crash earlier and later died from pneumonia in 1928. Before his death, Bennett wrote about the flight and confirmed Byrd’s account in interviews and a magazine article.

In 1996, Byrd’s diary from the May 9, 1926, flight was found. It showed erased but readable notes about a sextant measurement that differ from Byrd’s later report to the National Geographic Society. Byrd recorded a solar altitude of 19°25'30" at 7:07:10 GCT in his diary, but his official report later said 18°18'18". Dennis Rawlins studied this and suggested Byrd may have flown about 80% of the distance to the pole before turning back due to an engine oil leak. He also claimed Byrd later changed his report to support his claim of reaching the pole.

Some people argue that the flight times in the report require ground speeds faster than the plane’s airspeed, which might have been possible if a weather system moving west helped increase the plane’s speed. However, Rawlins challenged this theory, noting that the original report’s sextant data was recorded with more precision than Navy instruments from 1926 could provide.

If Byrd and Bennett did not reach the North Pole, then the first flight over the pole may have happened a few days later, on May 12, 1926, when the airship Norge flew nonstop from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) to Alaska. The crew included Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile, Oscar Wisting, and Lincoln Ellsworth.

1927 Trans-Atlantic flight

In 1927, Byrd said he had support from the American Trans-Oceanic Company, which was created in 1914 by Rodman Wanamaker, a wealthy businessman who wanted to build airplanes for nonstop flights across the Atlantic Ocean. Byrd was one of many pilots trying to win the Orteig Prize in 1927 for completing the first nonstop flight between the United States and France.

Byrd again chose Floyd Bennett as his main pilot, with Norwegian pilot Bernt Balchen, Bert Acosta, and Lieutenant George Noville as other crew members. During a practice takeoff, Anthony Fokker was flying the plane, and Bennett was in the co-pilot seat. The Fokker Trimotor airplane, named America, crashed, seriously injuring Bennett and slightly injuring Byrd. While the plane was being fixed, Charles Lindbergh won the prize by flying nonstop from the United States to France on May 21, 1927. (Interestingly, in 1925, Charles Lindbergh, who was then a lieutenant in the Army Air Service Reserve Corps, had tried to join Byrd’s North Pole expedition, but his request arrived too late.)

Byrd continued his effort to cross the Atlantic nonstop, choosing Balchen to replace Bennett, who had not fully recovered from his injuries. Byrd, Balchen, Acosta, and Noville flew from Roosevelt Field, East Garden City, New York, in the America on June 29, 1927. The plane carried mail from the U.S. Postal Service to show how useful airplanes could be. The next day, they reached France but could not land in Paris because of heavy clouds. They returned to the coast of Normandy and crash-landed near the beach at Ver-sur-Mer (called Gold Beach during the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944) on July 1, 1927, without any deaths. In France, Byrd and his crew were honored as heroes, and Byrd was given the title of Officer in the French Legion of Honor by Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré on July 6.

After returning to the United States, a special dinner was held in their honor in New York City on July 19. Byrd and Noville were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur at the dinner. Acosta and Balchen did not receive the Distinguished Flying Cross because, at that time, the award could only be given to members of the armed services, not to civilians.

Byrd wrote an article for the August 1927 edition of Popular Science Monthly in which he correctly said that planes with 1 to 3 crew members could fly nonstop across the Atlantic, but it would take another 20 years for this to happen on a large scale.

Early Antarctic expeditions

In 1928, Byrd started his first trip to Antarctica with two ships and three airplanes. His main ship was the City of New York, a Norwegian sealing ship that had been renamed Samson and was once near the Titanic during its sinking. The other ship was the Eleanor Bolling, named after Byrd’s mother. The airplanes included a Ford Trimotor called Floyd Bennett, named after a pilot who had died earlier, flown by Dean Smith; a Fairchild FC-2W2, built in 1928 and named Stars And Stripes, now on display at the National Air and Space Museum; and a Fokker Super Universal monoplane called Virginia, named after Byrd’s birth state. A base camp called "Little America" was built on the Ross Ice Shelf, and scientific work began using snowshoes, dog sleds, snowmobiles, and airplanes. To encourage youth interest in polar exploration, a 19-year-old Boy Scout named Paul Allman Siple joined the expedition. Siple later earned a doctorate and participated in all five of Byrd’s Antarctic expeditions.

During the summer, photographic and geological studies were done, and radio communication was kept up with the outside world. After the first winter, the team returned to work, and on November 28, 1929, the first flight to the South Pole and back was made. Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen, co-pilot/radioman Harold June, and photographer Ashley McKinley flew the Floyd Bennett to the South Pole in 18 hours and 41 minutes. They had trouble reaching high altitude and had to drop empty fuel tanks and emergency supplies to do so, but they succeeded.

In November 1929, Byrd led a privately funded expedition where he flew over the South Pole for the first time. He supported using airplanes with skis, even though it was hard to operate them, and this required building bases on land.

Because of his success, Byrd was promoted to rear admiral by Congress in December 1929 when he was 41 years old. This made him the youngest admiral in U.S. Navy history. None of his classmates from the U.S. Naval Academy became admirals until 1942, after 30 years of service. He was one of only four people, including Admiral David Dixon Porter and Rear Admiral Donald Baxter MacMillan, promoted to rear admiral without first being a captain.

After another summer of exploration, the team returned to North America on June 18, 1930. This expedition was honored with a gold medal from the American Geographical Society. A film called With Byrd at the South Pole (1930) was made about the trip.

Byrd, now a well-known polar explorer and aviator, was Honorary National President of Pi Gamma Mu, an international honor society in the social sciences, from 1931 to 1935. He carried the society’s flag during his first Antarctic expedition to show the spirit of adventure in both natural and social sciences.

To get support and money for his expeditions, Byrd worked with important people like President Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and Vincent Astor. He named Antarctic features after them as a thank-you.

During his second expedition in the Southern Hemisphere summer of 1933–1934 (winter in the Northern Hemisphere), Byrd spent five months alone running a weather station called Advance Base. He nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a poorly ventilated stove. Unusual radio messages from Byrd worried the team at the base camp, who tried to reach him. Two attempts failed because of bad weather and mechanical problems. Finally, Thomas Poulter, E. J. Demas, and Amory Waite reached Advance Base and found Byrd in poor health. They stayed until October 12, when an airplane picked up Dr. Poulter and Byrd. The others returned to base camp with a tractor. Byrd wrote about this experience in his autobiography Alone.

During the summer, days were long, and evenings had twilight. Inside the headquarters, Byrd made a large calendar on the wall and marked off each day as it passed.

A CBS radio station, KFZ, was set up on the base camp ship, the Bear of Oakland. The program The Adventures of Admiral Byrd was broadcast via shortwave to Buenos Aires and then to New York. Sponsored by General Foods, the show aired on Saturday nights at 10:00 p.m. and reached 19.1 million people on average during the 1933–34 season.

President Roosevelt and the U.S. Postmaster General honored Byrd’s expedition with a commemorative stamp in 1933, which helped raise money for the trip. The stamp, called the Byrd II 3-cent stamp (number 753 in the Scott’s Catalog), was used on mail sent to and from Antarctica. A special post office was set up at Little America, and mail required this stamp plus 53 cents in postage. About 150,000 letters passed through the Antarctic post office between 1933 and 1934. Charles F. Anderson, a Postmaster General representative, was assigned to handle the mail.

In late 1938, Byrd visited Hamburg, Germany, where he met with Alfred Ritscher, leader of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39. Byrd showed his Antarctic film to the team and gave advice based on his experience. The event was private, with no press present.

Byrd’s third expedition was the first funded by the U.S. government. It included studies of geology, biology, and weather, and the Antarctic Snow Cruiser was brought along, but it broke down quickly.

In March 1940, Byrd returned to active duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. The expedition continued in Antarctica until March 22, 1941, when the last team members left.

World War II

As a senior officer in the United States Navy, Byrd was called back to active duty on March 26, 1942, and worked as a secret advisor to Admiral Ernest J. King. From 1942 to 1945, he was part of the South Pacific Island Base Inspection Board. This group visited bases in the South Pacific in May and June 1942. The report they created described conditions at each base and discussed what was learned about planning and building these bases. The report also included suggestions to improve the bases and help plan future bases.

On September 1, 1943, following a series of letters from the President to the Secretary of the Navy, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations ordered Byrd to lead a survey and study of certain islands in the East and South Pacific. This study was related to national defense and plans for air bases and routes. The members of the Special Navy Mission traveled from Balboa, Canal Zone, on the USS Concord, commanded by Captain Irving Reynold Chambers, in September 1943. On October 7, 1943, a large explosion at sea killed 24 crew members of the USS Concord, including the executive officer, Commander Rogers Elliott. The explosion was caused by gasoline fumes at the ship’s rear. Some men were thrown overboard, while others were hurt by the force of the blast, burns, broken skulls, or broken necks. Several sailors died while trying to save others. The dead were buried at sea on October 8. On October 23, 1943, Byrd wrote a letter from Nuku Hiva (the largest island in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia) to Captain Chambers, praising him and his crew for their bravery and skill after the explosion. Byrd said the crew’s actions made him "feel proud to be an American" and highlighted the heroism of those who died saving others. Byrd finished the mission in December and later joined the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) from 1944 to 1945.

On February 10, 1945, Byrd received the Order of Christopher Columbus from the government of the Dominican Republic. He was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Byrd was released from active duty on October 1, 1945. For his service during World War II, he received two awards of the Legion of Merit.

Later Antarctic expeditions

In 1946, James Forrestal, the Secretary of the Navy, chose Admiral Richard E. Byrd to lead the Antarctic Developments Project. Byrd’s fourth trip to Antarctica was called Operation Highjump. It was the largest Antarctic expedition at that time and was expected to last 6 to 8 months.

The expedition was supported by a large group of Navy ships and planes, known as Task Force 68, led by Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen. Thirteen Navy support ships, including the flagship USS Mount Olympus and the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, along with six helicopters, six flying boats, two seaplane tenders, and 15 other aircraft, were used. More than 4,000 people participated in the mission.

The fleet arrived in the Ross Sea on December 31, 1946. It explored an area as large as the United States, discovering 10 new mountain ranges. The main area studied 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 on the expedition’s command ship, USS Mount Olympus. He discussed lessons from the mission. The interview was published in the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio on March 5, 1947, and included these words:

Admiral Richard E. Byrd warned that the United States should prepare for the possibility of enemy planes attacking from the polar regions during a war. He said the United States could be attacked by planes flying over the North or South Poles. He added that the most important result of his discoveries was how they relate to the security of the United States. He noted that the world is becoming smaller very quickly, and that the time has passed when the United States could rely on its distance from other countries for safety.

In 1948, the U.S. Navy made a film about Operation Highjump called The Secret Land. The film includes real footage of the expedition and some reenacted 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 trips. He said Antarctica would become the most important place in the world for scientific research in the future.

As part of the International Geophysical Year (1957–58), Byrd was chosen to lead the U.S. Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze I in 1955–56. This mission established permanent U.S. bases at McMurdo Sound, the Bay of Whales, and the South Pole. This was Byrd’s final trip to Antarctica and marked the start of a long-term U.S. military presence in the region. Byrd stayed in Antarctica for only one week and returned to the United States on February 3, 1956.

Death

Admiral Byrd passed away in his sleep due to a heart ailment when he was 68 years old on March 11, 1957, at his home located at 7 Brimmer Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Memberships

Byrd was an active member of the Freemasons. He was raised to the rank of Master Mason in Federal Lodge No. 1, Washington, D.C., on March 19, 1921, and joined Kane Lodge No. 454, New York City, on September 18, 1928. He was also a member of National Sojourners Chapter No. 3 in Washington. In 1930, Byrd received a gold medal from Kane Lodge.

In 1931, Byrd became a member of the Tennessee Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was assigned state membership number 605 and national membership number 50430. He was awarded the society's War Service Medal for his service during the First World War.

Byrd was also a member of many other organizations, including the Explorers Club, the American Legion, and the National Geographic Society.

Honors

Admiral Byrd received 22 citations and special commendations during his lifetime. Nine of these were for bravery, and two were for extraordinary heroism in saving others’ lives. He also received several medals, including the Medal of Honor, the Silver Lifesaving Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Navy Cross.

Admiral Byrd is the only person to have three ticker-tape parades in New York City (in 1926, 1927, and 1930) held in his honor.

He was one of only four American military officers allowed to wear a medal featuring their own image. The others were Admiral George Dewey, General John J. Pershing, and Admiral William T. Sampson. Byrd’s image appeared on both the first and second Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medals, making him the only American allowed to wear two medals with his own image.

He received the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution for outstanding achievements in aviation.

He was the seventh person to receive the prestigious Hubbard Medal from the National Geographic Society for his flight to the North Pole. Other recipients include Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, and Charles Lindbergh.

Byrd received many medals from nongovernmental organizations for his achievements. These included the David Livingstone Centenary Medal from the American Geographical Society, the Loczy Medal from the Hungarian Geographical Society, the Vega Medal from the Swedish Geographical Society, and the Elisha Kent Kane Medal from the Philadelphia Geographical Society.

In 1927, the Boy Scouts of America honored Byrd as an Honorary Scout, a new category created that year for individuals whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration, and adventure inspire others.

Also in 1927, the city of Richmond, Virginia, dedicated the Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field, now known as Richmond International Airport, in Henrico County. Byrd’s Fairchild FC-2W2, NX8006, Stars And Stripes, is displayed at the Virginia Aviation Museum, on loan from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

In 1929, Byrd received the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution.

A lunar crater, a U.S. Navy dry cargo ship (USNS Richard E. Byrd, T-AKE-4), and a decommissioned guided missile destroyer (USS Richard E. Byrd, DDG-23) are named after him.

In 1930, Byrd was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

In 1931, Richard E. Byrd School was dedicated in Glen Rock, New Jersey.

On March 31, 1934, Admiral Byrd was awarded the CBS Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Radio during a regularly scheduled broadcast. His short-wave relay broadcasts from his second Antarctic expedition created a new chapter in communication history. Byrd was the sixth person to receive this award.

In 1987, the Institute of Polar Studies at Ohio State University changed its name to the Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) after receiving Byrd’s expeditionary records, personal papers, and other memorabilia from the estate of his wife, Marie A. Byrd, in 1985. His papers helped establish the BPRC Polar Archival Program in 1990. The Richard Byrd Library, part of the Fairfax County Public Library system, opened in Springfield, Virginia, in 1958.

Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, a Department of Defense school in Negishi (Yokohama, Japan), opened in 1948. Its name was changed to R.E. Byrd Elementary School in 1960.

Memorials to Byrd are located in Wellington and Dunedin, New Zealand, where he used the country as a departure point for several Antarctic expeditions.

In 1979, the Australian Antarctic Territory released a set of two postage stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Byrd’s first flight over the South Pole. A commemorative flag was also designed.

The long-range short-wave voice transmissions from Byrd’s 1934 Antarctic expedition were named an IEEE Milestone in 2001.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd Middle School in Frederick County, Virginia, opened in 2005 and features pictures and letters from Byrd’s life and career.

He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as an honorary member at the University of Virginia.

Byrd was inducted into the International Air and Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air and Space Museum in 1968.

Richard E. Byrd Middle School in Sun Valley, California, is named after Admiral Byrd. The school opened in its current location in 2008 after its original site became Sun Valley High School.

Popular culture

In his book Confrontations, Jacques Vallée refers to a "false story" about "holes in the pole" that were said to have been found by Admiral Byrd. He mentions Clint Chapin, who was involved in the Copper Medic case, as believing that UFOs came from inside the Earth.

In Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, Admiral Byrd and the Little America bases are described as the last destination in Marian Graves' journey to fly around the world over the North and South Poles.

Military awards

Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd was one of the most decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy. He is likely the only person to receive the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Silver Life Saving Medal. He also received all three Antarctic expedition medals given out before World War II.

Note: The dates listed in the table show when the awards were received, not always when the actions they honored took place.

Byrd was eligible to receive the Antarctic Service Medal after his death. This medal was created in 1960 to recognize his work during Operation Highjump (1946–1947) and Operation Deep Freeze (1955–1956).

Byrd also received many other awards from government and private organizations in the United States.

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

For showing great courage and bravery, risking his life, in proving that airplanes can fly nonstop from a populated area over the North Pole and return.

Byrd and Machinist Floyd Bennett were awarded the Medal of Honor by President Calvin Coolidge on March 5, 1927.

The President of the United States presented the Navy Cross to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism as the leader of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition I. On November 28, 1929, he flew his plane, the "Floyd Bennett," from Little America, Antarctica, and reached the South Pole on November 29, 1929. After flying beyond the pole, he returned to his base. This flight occurred in extremely cold weather, over high ground, and in conditions where rescue would have been unlikely if the plane had crashed. Rear Admiral Byrd led the flight, navigated the plane, and ensured the mission was completed successfully through his hard work, leadership, and good judgment.

The President of the United States presented the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for exceptional service in proving that heavier-than-air aircraft could fly nonstop to the North Pole and return.

General Orders: Letter dated August 6, 1926.

The President of the United States presented a Gold Star in place of a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for outstanding service as the leader of the U.S. Antarctic Service. Rear Admiral Byrd helped organize the expedition quickly, in a quarter of the time usually needed. Despite a short operating season, he established two Antarctic bases 1,500 miles apart, where scientific and economic research continues. With the USS Bear, he explored unknown and dangerous seas, made four important flights, and discovered new mountain ranges, islands, over 100,000 square miles of land, a peninsula, and 700 miles of previously unknown Antarctic coastline. His work brought credit to the United States. His leadership and dedication reflected the highest standards of the U.S. Navy.

The President of the United States presented the Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for outstanding service as the leader of a Special Navy Mission to the Pacific from August 27, 1943, to December 5, 1943. During this mission, he surveyed or studied 33 Pacific islands to find suitable locations for air bases. He worked well with civilian, Army, and Navy experts. His courage, initiative, and skill helped gather valuable data for the United States’ defense and future aviation plans.

Action Date: August 27–December 5, 1943.

The President of the United States presented a Gold Star in place of a second Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for outstanding service as a 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 December 6, 1943, to October 1, 1945. During this time, Rear Admiral Byrd worked in the Navy Department and in areas outside the United States, completing special missions in Europe and the Pacific. His careful work, attention to detail, and ability helped achieve successful results. His advice and planning supported the war effort and the success of the U.S. Navy. His service honored the traditions of the U.S. Navy.

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

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

The President of the United States presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for outstanding achievements during a flight. This award recognized his courage, skill, and leadership as the leader of the expedition that flew the airplane "America" from New York City to France from June 29 to July 1, 1927, across the Atlantic Ocean in very bad weather. He safely landed in Ver sur Mer, France, after a 39-hour and 56-minute flight without seriously injuring his crew.

Action Date: June