Happening in Antarctica : Recalling the Great Promise of Antarctica

Prior to the great race to the moon, there had been an earlier pursuit to explore and tame the great Antarctic. As Neil Armstrong had done with Apollo and the LEM, Admiral Byrd had taken the first stage of his mission on the sea, and in a second stage, flown an aircraft over the South Pole. What did Antarctica have in store for the US? No one was positive, but FDR was certainly interested. What started out as a private Bostonian capital venture, had become a government program.

Perhaps nothing will match the energy that had been expended by Americans in Antarctica like Admiral Byrd and his exploratory programs. He had filled in the blank areas in maps. He had started geological, geophysical, and biological programs. It is no mistake that people have named so many things after him. He was organized, had a clear mission, and we can all be proud of what he did for our country. To counter the Russians in 1946 Secretary Forrestal created Operation Highjump. The US :

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.

This activity was terminated 6 months early without explanation. The large invasive spread of Communism throughout Eastern Europe, Asia, and elsewhere were paramount concerns at the time. This included a Soviet military presence in Antarctica. This confrontation may have helped fuel the idea of a "Cold War".

According to Paul Siple the Antarctic program outgrew the Admiral. Arguments within the US administration led to a shift away from American dominance in the region, to a more sedate secondary role as a monitoring presence. With the suppression of Admiral Byrd from the Antarctic, the golden age of American involvement in Antarctica had passed.

Bolsheviks within the US Antarctic Service degraded the Admiral, and dismissed this man who:

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; who 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

"as a senseless drunk".

He is buried in Arlington cemetery.