[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1550-E1552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ADM. RICHARD E. BYRD HONORED IN WINCHESTER, VA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 1997

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure, on July 14, 1997, to 
attend a ceremony in Winchester, VA, where a statue of Adm. Richard 
Evelyn Byrd was dedicated to his memory. Born in Winchester, Admiral 
Byrd was a legendary naval officer, aviation pioneer, adventurer and 
explorer of both polar icecaps and winner of the Congressional Medal of 
Honor. Admiral Byrd was a lion of a man who captured the heart of 
America and the imagination of the world.
  In attendance were members of the Byrd family including the Admiral's 
daughter, Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clarke, former U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, 
Jr., and Mr. Thomas T. Byrd, Representing the region were U.S. Senator 
Charles Robb, State senator H. Russel Potts, State delegate Beverly 
Sherwood, former delegate Alson H. Smith, county board of supervisors 
member Mr. Harrington Smith, county board of supervisors chairman Mr. 
James Longerbeam, Winchester city councilman Mr. Harry S. Smith and 
Shenandoah University president Dr. James Davis, along with many men, 
women, and children from the community.
  Principal addresses were given by Secretary of the Navy John H. 
Dalton and Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clarke. Dr. Jay Morton, who sculpted the 
statue, was also in attendance and spoke briefly.
  The statue of Admiral Byrd was funded entirely by contributions, 
large and small, from members of the community, friends, neighbors, and 
admirers. I would like to share with my colleagues the remarks by Navy 
Secretary Dalton and Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clarke.

                 What Would Admiral Byrd Explore Today?

                   (By the Honorable John H. Dalton)

       Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen . . . what an 
     honor and a pleasure it is for me to be here today, to unveil 
     this proud monument to one of the most distinguished maritime 
     explorers in our Nation's history.
       One of the great pleasures I have as Secretary of the Navy 
     is to help honor the life and work of those who have come 
     before us those brave men and women . . . Sailors, Marines 
     and civilians who have made our Naval Service the best in the 
     world.
       Let me say first of all, thank you, to those who had a part 
     in making this memorial a

[[Page E1551]]

     reality. You honor our Nation by your commitment to the 
     preservation of our past triumphs.
       Pioneer, explorer, fearless adventurer, and scientist . . . 
     active pursuits that describe the life and personality of 
     Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd.
       He was a man who loved a challenge. He was a man of firsts. 
     The first to fly over the North Pole. The first to fly over 
     the South Pole. The first to explore and map the vast 
     continent of Antarctica. Amazing feats . . . and especially 
     so, given our reliance today on the wonders of navigation now 
     available to us, like the global positioning system.
       Admiral Byrd had no such tools available . . . he called 
     upon his courage almost exclusively, to achieve the firsts 
     that began out search for those marvelous tools we use today. 
     His was a special breed of courage.
       He was a man who did not believe that the science 
     establishment of his time held definitive answers to 
     questions about our vast planet. He sought to discover for 
     himself--and for his Nation--the answers that might be hidden 
     at the very ends of the earth, under the forbidding ice and 
     snow of the poles.
       As I prepared my remarks for today, I pondered Admiral 
     Byrd's quest for knowledge, and his thirst for discovery. I 
     wondered what facet of the unknown he would champion if he 
     were with us today. Would he seek to continue exploration of 
     the Poles? Would he investigate the ocean's depths? Or would 
     he look further, and seek the stars?
       If I had to speculate, I believe that Richard Byrd would 
     have been very excited by the images of Mars, transmitted by 
     NASA's Pathfinder and its remote probing vehicle, Sojourner--
     that we have all seen this past week. I think he would have 
     been very excited by the computer microchip and its myriad of 
     applications in today's world. And, I think that he would 
     have been saddened by the recent death of the great undersea 
     explorer, Jacques Cousteau.
       It is a far more knowledgeable world today, than it was 
     back in 1926, when Richard Byrd rolled down a runway enroute 
     to his historic mission of discovery over the North Pole. 
     But, regardless of the advances and breakthroughs, Admiral 
     Byrd, if he were with us today, would still seek the answers 
     to questions beyond our current boundaries. He would push the 
     envelope and challenge conventional wisdom.
       If he were alive today, I know that he would be proud of 
     his Navy and Marine Corps. He would be proud of the 
     technology of today's newest aircraft carriers, like the USS 
     HARRY S. TRUMAN, and the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet strike 
     fighters that will soon fill her decks. He would be proud of 
     our SEAWOLF submarine, and the Tomahawk launch system aboard 
     our Aegis cruisers and destroyers. But, most of all, he would 
     be proud of our people--the Sailors and Marines who man the 
     deckplates.
       Following Admiral Byrd's proud example, today's Sailors, 
     Marines and civilians of the Navy Department continue to 
     challenge the established technology available to them. They 
     still strive to discover and explore.
       Just two weeks ago, I was at Rice University in Houston, 
     Texas, to honor one of our finest shipmates, who is setting 
     that example. Professor Richard Smalley, funded by the Office 
     of Naval Research, is a Nobel Prize-winner who is pushing the 
     bounds of Nanoscale science, to eventually produce wonders of 
     carbon that will make our future weapons systems more 
     powerful, lighter, stronger, and safer for the Sailors and 
     Marines who use them.
       Admiral Richard Byrd may not be with us today, but his 
     spirit of exploration and discovery is alive and well. It 
     will be that spirit which will serve as his legacy.
       It was Albert Einstein who said, ``We don't know one-
     millionth of one percent about anything . . .'' Your great 
     city of Winchester has not just erected a monument to the 
     past . . . it has erected a challenge for our future. It has 
     erected a symbol that represents Einstein's challenge, and 
     Admiral Byrd's challenge--to all of us--to embrace our 
     future, through continued courage to discover new frontiers.
       Thank you, Admiral Byrd, for your contributions to our 
     proud naval heritage. Thank you for a remarkable life and 
     legacy. Thank you, Mr. Jay Morton, for your artistic flair 
     and sculpting talents. And thank you, Winchester, Virginia, 
     for your undying devotion to a great native son.
       God bless you . . . God bless our Navy-Marine Corps team . 
     . . and God bless America.


     
                                  ____
                  What A Wonderful Occassion This Is!

                     (By Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clarke)

       I wish my father could be here with us--and I think he is 
     in spirit! If he were he would be tremendously appreciative 
     of this great honor and Dr. Morton's wonderful statue. He 
     might say as he sometimes did at receiving a special honor: 
     ``You know, I really don't deserve this (and he would have 
     meant it!), but I'm human enough to like it just the same!''
       Of all the many statues of him world wide, I think he would 
     feel this one to be special. He would be delighted that it is 
     placed here outside the Judicial Center close to the 
     Winchester Star and in his beloved home town of Winchester 
     where he was born and raised. Although his home after 
     marriage was Boston, he always came back here between trips 
     to spend time with his Virginia family and friends. I must 
     confess to some secret jealousy as a small child: What was he 
     doing in Winchester, or any other place, when he SHOULD have 
     been in Boston with ME, my brother Dick and my two sisters, 
     Katharine and Helen!
       The problem was that we saw so little of him growing up. He 
     was busy on Navy assignments when I was born in 1922, his own 
     ventures to the North Pole in 1926 and the Transatlantic 
     flight in 1927. By the time he got home to Boston from each 
     of his first two Antarctic expeditions almost two and a half 
     years had gone by. And when he was home he had very little 
     time to spare. Because those first two Antarctic trips were 
     privately sponsored there were debts to pay, books to write, 
     and nine month country-wide lecture tours, voluminous 
     correspondance and preparations for the next expedition.
       But he fitted us in to his hectic schedule as best as he 
     could: For instance, he would call us to join him when he 
     shaved in the morning. I remember sitting on the edge of the 
     bathtub answering questions and discussing important 
     childhood issues while he went through the routine which was 
     quite a procedure in the days before the electric razor! And 
     often he would call us to join him for a walk which was one 
     of his favorite forms of exercise and during which time he 
     did a lot of his thinking, planning, working out problems 
     and, as we got older, sharing his philosophy.
       Those walks remind me of another reason this statue would 
     be special to Dad. It includes his beloved dog Igloo, Iggie 
     for short, his dear friend and close companion who went 
     everywhere with him.
       Igloo was found in 1926 by a Miss Boggs in Washington, DC 
     as a young, lost and homeless stray. Taking pity on him, she 
     took him home to her apartment. Finding that Igloo was a very 
     bright, inquisitive, explorer/adventurer type of dog, she 
     felt that he should belong to an explorer/adventurer type 
     of human being. Right about that time Miss Boggs had heard 
     about a crazy man by the name of Byrd who said he was 
     going to fly the North Pole. ``Those two are made for each 
     other.'' she thought and packed Iggie in a crate and 
     mailed him express to Lt. Commander Richard Byrd, N. Pole. 
     The Express Company was a bit dumbfounded, never having 
     delivered anything to the North Pole before. But hearing 
     that the vessel ``Chantier'' was docked in N.Y. preparing 
     to leave for Spitzburgen they shipped him there. That was 
     the first meeting of dog and man and the start of their 
     many adventures together.
       Igloo witnessed that historic flight over the North Pole in 
     1926, and was present with Dad's brother Tom at the take off 
     of the Transatlantic flight in 1927. I understand that Iggie 
     was so upset at seeing his master board the America and start 
     off without him, that he broke loose and raced down the 
     runway after it going, at first, almost as fast as the plane. 
     He also sailed on the Ship Larson to Antarctica and spent the 
     winter night underground.
       How well I remember him when he and Dad were home. One 
     summer being used to only penguins, seals and huskies, he 
     investigated two relatively small and seemingly harmless 
     animals with dire consequences. One was a skunk and later a 
     porcupine. I remember Dad having a difficult time pulling 
     quills out of his nose with the help of a magnifying glass 
     and tweezers. Of course he accompanied us into the dining 
     room for meals where mother had a strict rule, ``No feeding 
     dogs at the table.'' My father's response was, ``Of course, 
     Dear. You are absolutely right.'' Then I would notice him 
     giving a sidelong glance to see if Mom was looking the other 
     way, and sneak a bit to Iggie under the table.
       Igloo became very sick and died in '32. when Dad heard how 
     ill he was he interrupted a lecture tour to be by his side.
       From the beginning Dad taught us all a love of animals and 
     that to kill unnecessarily was wrong. My brother Dick took 
     this so seriously that, for a while, he refused to kill 
     mosquitoes.
       But it wasn't just animals my father loved. It was all 
     life. On the many walks we took and in his book ``Alone'', he 
     expounded on his philosophy that this planet and all life on 
     it is interrelated and an integral part of the universe, that 
     if we are to survive we must care for our environment, live 
     in harmony with each other and achieve lasting, universal 
     peace.
       This was his vision as a pioneer aviator and explorer. It 
     was behind his work improving the plane; the Transatlantic 
     flight to ``shrink the world'' brining continents and people 
     closer together in understanding; behind his explorations and 
     scientific work in Antarctica and his great desire that 
     Antarctica become, as he called it, the ``Great White 
     Continent of Peace''.
       How vividly I remember him on our walks together in his 
     later years expounding on his dream. ``Bolling, can you 
     imagine Antarctica, the one continent in the world where 
     nations will work together side by side in peace and harmony 
     sharing the results of their work for the betterment of 
     mankind? Now wouldn't that be a wondrous thing?''
       He worked very hard on the Peace Treaty and would be 
     relieved, overjoyed, to know that it was ratified 2 years ago 
     after his death.
       Not so very long before he died, I asked him ``now that 
     most of this planet has been explored, where would you like 
     to go next?'' Without any hesitation whatsoever he replied, 
     ``Space''. My cousin, Helen Byrd, told me yesterday that in a 
     conversation with Dad he said ``The future is in the 
     Cosmos.''
       I have a fantasy of him and Igloo kicking up dust 
     investigating Mars or taking off in a space ship traveling 
     between the stars and

[[Page E1552]]

     planets to the outer limits, searching for answers to the 
     mysteries of the universe.

     

                          ____________________