Richard E. Byrd the rank of captain. After a further summer of exploration, the expedition returned to North America on June 18, 1930. A 19-year-old American Boy Scout, Paul Allman Siple, was chosen to accompany the expedition. Unlike the 1926 flight, this expedition was honored with the gold medal of the American Geographical Society. This was also seen in the film "With Byrd at the South Pole" (1930) which covered his trip there. Byrd, by then an internationally recognized, pioneering American polar explorer and aviator, served for a time as Honorary National President (1931–1935) of Pi Gamma Mu, the international honor society in
Richard Evelyn Byrd III Richard Evelyn Byrd III Richard Evelyn Byrd III (February 19, 1920 – c. October 3, 1988) was a United States naval officer, Antarctic explorer, and the son of Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. Richard Evelyn Byrd III (usually referred to as Richard E. Byrd, Jr.) was born on February 19, 1920 to famed naval aviator and explorer Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. and his wife, Marie Donaldson Ames. The younger Richard was a graduate of Milton Academy and Harvard College. During World War II he was commissioned an ensign in the Naval Reserve on April 6, 1942 and was promoted to lieutenant