4. | Rear Adm. Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr. (2.Richard2, 1.Jennie1) was born on 25 Oct 1888 in Winchester, Virginia; died on 11 Mar 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts. Notes:
Helen R. Flach
Note: Burke's American Families with British Ancestry, 1975, p. 2597,
Byrd formerly of Broxton.
Read Adm, U.S. Navy, Officer, French Legion of Honour, has Special
Congressional Medals, 1930 for Antartic Expedition I and 1937 for
Antartic Expedition II. --Burke's American Families with British
Ancestry, 1975, p. 2597, Byrd formerly of Broxton.
From Encyclopedia Brittanica:
"Naval officer, pioneer aviator, and polar explorer. Having become a
naval pilot, Byrd developed an interest in polar aviation and claimed to
have flown over the North Pole on May 9, 1926. Although his claim was
later seriously disputed, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for the
achievement. In June 1927 he flew across the Atlantic Ocean from west to
east, and the following year he began to explore the Antarctic from the
air. Establishing a base camp, called Little America, on the Ross Ice
Shelf, Byrd discovered unknown regions of the Arnarctic and also flew
across the South Pole (1929). He nearly lost his life on a second
expedition to the Antarctic in 1933-34. After World War II Byrd led
Operation High Jump, a project to discover and map large tracts of
Antarctic territory; he also directed allU.S. operations in the
Antarctic, known as Operation Deep Freeze, in 1955, and flew over the
pole for the last time in 1957."
Rear married Marie Ames on 20 Jan 1915. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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