Richard E. Byrd on March 5, 1927. The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, in that on November 28, 1929 he took off in his "Floyd Bennett" from the Expedition's base at Little America, Antarctica and, after a flight made under the most difficult conditions he reached the South Pole on November 29, 1929. After flying some distance beyond this point he returned to his
Harry F. Byrd Jr. of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His uncle Richard E. Byrd was a pilot and polar explorer. In 1931, at his father's urging, Young Harry Byrd enrolled at Virginia Military Institute. Two years later, Byrd transferred to the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity, but left before graduating due to family circumstances, as discussed below. On August 9, 1941 Byrd married Gretchen Thompson. They had two sons (Harry and Thomas), and a daughter, Beverley. In 1935, Young Harry Byrd left the University of Virginia in Charlotteville to