VA-Q4G Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd A

Marker text: REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD

25 October 1888 - 11 March 1957

Here was born and reared Richard Evelyn Byrd, aviator and polar explorer. A 1912 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, he received the Medal of Honor for the first flight over the North Pole in 1926, and made the first commerical nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927. In 1928 he organized and led the first of five Antartic expeditions, and flew over the South Pole in 1929. Byrd spent the winter of 1934 alone a hundred miles from his base at Little America, conducting scientific experiments. Of his several books, the best known is Alone. Byrd is regarded as the father of the Antartic Peace Treaty, which bans the military use of Antartica. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Department of Historic Resources, 1993.