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
Byrd Cloth Byrd Cloth Byrd Cloth is a type of fabric similar to Grenfell Cloth which was designed in the 1934 by Harris Thurston and heavily promoted by Antarctic explorer Richard Byrd. The material was considered windproof yet the weave allowed some air to penetrate and therefore allowed sweat to evaporate from the body rather than freeze against the skin. It was meant to replace the fur-lined parkas which had traditionally been used for cold-weather exploration, and was discovered to also be ideal for World War II army uniforms because it absorbed less sweat, repelled mosquito bites, and was much lighter weight