Frozen in Time Read online

  134 recommended for promotion: W. N. Derby, Commandant, First Naval District, memo, October 7, 1942, Bottoms personnel file.

  135 Less than twenty minutes after the Northland’s anchor splashed into the bay: Northland log, November 28, 1942; Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 13.

  135 the Duck was in flight: By some accounts, the Duck scouted the crash site, returned to the Northland to confirm the plan, then took off again. This version is most credibly contained in Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” in which he quotes Pollard extensively. However, most accounts have Pritchard and Bottoms going directly to the landing site, and the statements of Monteverde, Spencer, and Tucciarone do not mention an initial scouting flight.

  135 flying over the crash site: Spencer, MACR affidavit, p. 3; Balchen, Come North with Me, p. 240.

  135 canned chicken, sausages, soups, and candy: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 55.

  136 took cover inside the tail section: Spina, memoir, p. 15.

  136 a note that Pritchard had written while aboard the Northland: Ibid. See also Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 55; Pike, “Nineteen Days.” There are some small discrepancies among the accounts about exactly what the note said, but Spina provides the most detailed description of these events.

  136 “If there’s a 60-40 chance”: Spina, memoir, p. 15.

  137 wiped away tears: Ibid.

  137 climbed atop the tail: Ibid. In Pike’s version, the do-not-land signal was atop the left wing. The larger point remains, however, that the crew signaled Pritchard to fly off.

  137 “Don’t try it”: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 55.

  137 “Coming in anyway”: Ibid.

  137 “He won’t make it, poor fellow”: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  138 Several times the tail lifted: Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 13.

  138 “You shouldn’t have landed”: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 56.

  138 last to leave: Ibid.

  139 Jesus Christ in the Greenland sky: Pete Tucciarone, interview, February 25, 2012.

  139 fragile and stiff from the cold: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  139 should take their places: Spina, memoir, p. 16.

  139 face-first into the snow from exhaustion: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

  139 spaghetti waiting for him: Mignon Kilday, “Survivor Recalls Rescue,” Mobile (Ala.) Press, n.d., in Bottoms personnel file.

  140 clasped hands and prayed: Ibid.

  140 Tucciarone heard Pritchard and Bottoms scream for joy: Tucciarone to Marsh, p. 7.

  140 The ship’s crew lined the rail: Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 13.

  141 “If weather permits”: Northland to SOPA, November 28, 1942, Coast Guard message.

  142 ensure the destruction of the PN9E’s Norden Bombsight: SOPA to Northland, November 29, 1942, Coast Guard message.

  142 hearty slaps on the back: Dorian, interviews, September 4 and November 11, 2011.

  142 one request: Pritchard’s autograph: Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 13.

  12: “MOs—QUICK!”

  143 a flare of their own: Spina, memoir, p. 16.

  143 across an active glacier: Lydia McIntosh, “Sergeant in S.A. Recalls Being Snowbound for 68 Days,” San Antonio Light, pt. 7, May 9, 1943.

  144 just such an occasion: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 57. See also Spina, memoir, p. 16.

  144 “frozen feet and body poison”: Northland to SOPA Greenland, relaying message from Tetley, December 1, 1942, message.

  144 constipated: Ibid.

  144 cover their sleds while they slept: Spina, memoir, p. 16.

  145 taste spaghetti before Tucciarone did: Ibid., p. 17.

  145 Spina knew that no one was asleep: Ibid.

  145 “bright gleam of victory”: Winston Churchill, Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches (New York: Hyperion, 2003), p. 341.

  146 By noon, visibility would be less than one mile: USCGC Northland log entries, November 29, 1942.

  146 a beautiful day on the glacier: Spina, memoir, p. 17.

  146 emerged from the B-17’s tail to retrieve the sleds: Spencer, statement, p. 3.

  147 banquet aboard the Northland: Spina, memoir, p. 17.

  147 “kiss the Ice Cap goodbye”: Ibid.

  147 the bridge gave way: This account of Demorest’s fall is taken from numerous sources, including Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 59–61; Spencer, statement, p. 3; Monteverde, statement, p. 2; and McIntosh, “Snowbound for 68 Days.”

  148 gave him eight rolls of film: Spina, memoir, p. 18.

  149 “apparently attempting to contact motor sledges in her vicinity or [at] Ice Cap Station”: SOPA to Northland, November 29, 1942, Coast Guard message.

  149 Pritchard took off in the same direction: This was long a point of contention, but in interviews with retired Coast Guard captain Donald Taub, Harry Spencer expressed certainty that Pritchard had followed the same flight path as on the previous day. Spina’s account, previously unknown outside his family, also says that Pritchard flew over the wreck and headed out to sea.

  149 Pritchard waggled the Duck’s wings: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 60.

  149 the fog grew so thick that they had to abandon their vigil: Spencer, statement, p. 3.

  150 called the Northland for a weather report: Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 14.

  150 “MOs, MOs—quick!”: Ibid.

  151 Northland crew members told themselves: Dorian, interviews, September 4 and November 11, 2011.

  151 “Demorest and one motor sledge in crevasse”: Northland to SOPA Greenland, November 30, 1942, message.

  151 expecting that they’d be next to leave: Spina, memoir, p. 19.

  151 “if by remaining, ship and personnel are endangered”: SOPA Greenland to Northland, November 30, 1942, message.

  152 “Grumman [Duck] located”: Northland to SOPA Greenland, December 7, 1942, relaying message from Turner’s B-17. See also “Activity of Airplane B17F, 41–24583, and crew in search for C-53 and search and supply of B17F PN9E,” n.d., Corey Ford Papers; Taub, Greenland Ice Cap Rescue, p. 5.

  153 one overly optimistic message from the Northland: Northland to SOPA Greenland, December 3, 1942, message.

  154 “Concentrated search was discontinued”: Handwritten summary attached to MACR 42–15569, pp. 2–3.

  155 recommended for the Medal of Honor: “Board of Investigation—Circumstances attending loss of J2F airplane . . . recommendation for posthumous award of Medal of Honor to Coast Guard Personnel,” memo, June 2, 1943, Pritchard’s Coast Guard personnel file.

  155 The medal was presented to his parents: “Parents Given Medal Won by Missing Flyer,” Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1943.

  155 “California Mother of the Year”: “Mrs. J. A. Pritchard Named ‘California Mother’ for 1944,” Burbank Review, April 24, 1944.

  156 “I want to stress that I owe my life”: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

  156 “I am one of the boys whose life was saved”: Lloyd Puryear to Benjamin Bottoms’s parents, February 19, 1943, Bottoms’s Coast Guard personnel file.

  156 “I breathed a little prayer”: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  13: TAPS

  162 “fully resourced program”: DPMO Operation and Maintenance Budget, pp. 405–6.

  162 “a game changer”: Lieutenant Colonel James McDonough to Lou Sapienza, e-mail, January 26, 2012.

  14: GLACIER WORMS

  168 Time and hardship had revealed Monteverde: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  168 considered “Lieutenant Monty” to be a hero: Ibid.

  169 the third of seven children: Jean Spina Gaffney, daughter of Paul Spina, interviews, March 12 and 18, 2012.

  170 he was raised a Dunkard: “McPherson Man Plunged to Death in Greenland Crevasse,” Hutchinson (Kans.) News-Herald, May 27, 1943, scrapbook clipping; Eric Langhorst, Wedel’s grandson-in-law, interv
iew, March 6, 2012.

  170 wrong to use his religion to avoid the war: Reba Greathead, daughter of Clarence Wedel, interview, March 13, 2012.

  170 Clint Best was easygoing and introverted: Robert C. Best, son of Alfred Best, interview, March 8, 2012.

  172 parked alongside the wrecked PN9E: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 60.

  172 “a hole [to] crawl in.”: Spina, memoir, p. 19.

  172 dug a “room”: Spencer, statement, p. 3.

  173 “Glacier Worms”: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 62.

  173 cut the lines securing the bomber’s tail section: Northland to SOPA Greenland, December 2, 1942, relayed message from PN9E.

  173 “If [supply] plane comes”: Ibid., December 1, 1942.

  174 losing more weight: Spina, memoir, p. 20.

  174 gambling with the navigator’s life: Ibid.

  174 “In case of emergency, we could travel light”: Northland to SOPA Greenland, relayed message from PN9E, December 1, 1942.

  175 Pritchard, Bottoms, and Howarth: Spina, memoir, p. 20.

  175 “Lieutenant O’Hara very ill”: Ibid., December 6, 1942. See also Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 66–67.

  176 a route recommended by Colonel Balchen: Spencer, statement, p. 3.

  176 back within two days: Spina, memoir, p. 20. See also Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 66.

  176 Tetley said it was time to leave: Spina, memoir, p. 21.

  177 Spencer knelt to unstrap his snowshoes: Wedel’s fall into the crevasse is described in Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 66–67, and in Spencer, statement, p. 3. See also Lydia McIntosh, “Snowbound for 68 Days.” Tetley’s account in McIntosh differs slightly, as she quotes him saying they had stopped at night to check on O’Hara. Otherwise the accounts agree.

  177 He screamed: Some accounts suggest that Wedel fell without a sound, but O’Hara is quoted as saying he screamed in Francis DeAndrea, “Icy Ordeal Recalled by Crash Survivor,” Scranton Times, November 9, 1983.

  178 marks on a narrow ledge: It seems possible these marks were bloodstains, as some have suggested in various accounts, but La Farge in The Long Wait and War below Zero never says so directly.

  178 He’d never meet his daughter: “McPherson Man Plunged to Death in Greenland Crevasse,” Hutchinson (Kans.) News-Herald, May 27, 1943, scrapbook clipping.

  178 “his initiative and perseverance”: “Legion of Merit Is Awarded Posthumously to Wichitan,” undated newspaper clipping, apparently from the Kansas City Star, provided by Eric Langhorst, Wedel’s grandson-in-law, March 11, 2012.

  179 a gallon of a different grade of lubricating oil: Northland to SOPA Greenland, relayed message from PN9E, December 5, 1942.

  179 about six miles northeast of the PN9E when the motorsled’s engine quit altogether: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 68.

  180 tuned to the wrong frequency: Ibid., p. 92.

  15: SHOOTING OUT THE LIGHTS

  181 “sufficient fuel and supplies for wintering in Comanche Bay”: Northland to SOPA Greenland, December 8, 1942, message.

  181 wanting to stay and needing to go: Northland to SOPA Greenland, December 1, 1942.

  182 “an overgrown crate, about thirty feet square”: “Five Months on the Greenland Ice Cap,” Coast Guard Magazine, May 1944, p. 28.

  182 They spent days tucked in their bunks: Ibid. Also see Taub, Greenland Ice Cap Rescue, pp. 5–6. To his credit, Taub spent considerable effort correcting the “official” record, which frequently omitted the efforts of the Northland crew members put ashore during the rescue efforts. Although they never reached the PN9E crew or the downed Duck, that should not obscure the hardships they endured in their volunteer effort. It also is worth noting that Fuller’s markings on a chart of the Koge Bay area known as H.O. 5773 proved significant for the Duck Hunt. As John Long explained: “Fuller’s chart’s relevance was not so much for the 2012 mission directly. However, without it we would not have understood the full dynamics of what took place back in 2008 when we started the Duck Hunt. Consequently, it helped paint the physical picture we see. We were able to put names to geographic locations.”

  183 all five received commendations: “Five Months on the Greenland Ice Cap,” p. 29.

  183 “This expedition had to be evaluated”: Willoughby, U.S. Coast Guard, p. 104.

  184 couldn’t restart the engine: Spencer, statement, p. 4.

  184 ice hole they could use for cooking: Ibid., p. 5.

  185 Spencer kept his shovel with him: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 69.

  185 a nasty mixture of snow and gasoline: Ibid., p. 70.

  185 A bout of diarrhea: Spina, memoir, p. 22.

  185 shooting them from the sky: DeAndrea, “Icy Ordeal,” p. 3.

  186 weren’t even certain that all three men were still alive: Ibid., p. 98.

  186 couldn’t control his dogs: Bernt Balchen, “Operations of Force 4998 A in Connection with PN9E Rescue,” memo, April 18, 1943, Corey Ford Papers, Dartmouth.

  187 “saw lights moving toward station”: Ibid.

  187 glider drop-and-snatch scheme: See Mitchell Zuckoff, Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II (New York: HarperCollins, 2011).

  187 “Has Army considered use of auto-gyro or helicopter”: Message from CINCLANT (Commander-in-Chief of Atlantic Fleet), December 17, 1942.

  188 “rejected their use as impracticable”: Message from COMINCH (Commander-in-Chief of Atlantic Fleet), December 17, 1942.

  188 instructed not to share any details: Krause, interview. Numerous news accounts after the events became public also referred to the secrecy surrounding these events as they happened.

  16: SNUBLEBLUSS

  194 those two locations are considered the most credible: The small corps of Duck Hunt authorities exchanged hundreds of e-mails on this issue. Agreement was elusive, but Donald Taub deserves credit for placing the “two valid locations” at 65o09' N, 41o01' W and 65o08' N, 41o00' W.

  195 “very high degree of certitude”: North South Polar presentation to the Coast Guard, initially made in January 2012 and updated multiple times in the following months.

  197 “Despite its size and awesome strength”: Henning Ting, Encounters with Wildlife in Greenland (Nuuk, Greenland: Greenland Home Rule Government Department of Environment and Wildlife Management, 1990), p. 7.

  198 “Avoid head shots”: Ibid., p. 18.

  199 “support for expedition to Greenland”: “Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items,” awarded August 13, 2012, order no. HSCGGB-12-P-MAV408.

  203 buried in permafrost in 2007: Charles McGrath, “Spirits of the South Pole,” New York Times Sunday Magazine, July 24, 2011.

  17: OUTWITTING THE ARCTIC

  204 Canadian bush pilot named Jimmie Wade: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 74–76. See also Ragnar J. Ragnarsson, US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Atlantic War (Oxford, England: Osprey, 2006), p. 78.

  205 Wade received the British Explorer Medal: “Civilians Included in King’s Honors,” Montreal Gazette, June 2, 1943.

  206 Five days after Wade and Moe went down: Balchen, “Subject: Search C-53,” reads in part: “This officer assigned to temporary duty in command of rescue operations of PN9E.”

  207 “one last trick to outwit the Arctic”: Balchen, Come North with Me, p. 242.

  207 on rescue missions, it was affectionately called Dumbo: “Battle of the Seas: The Lovely Dumbos,” Time, August 6, 1945, p. x.

  208 “If I’m to crawl in on my hands and knees”: Balchen, Come North with Me, p. 242.

  208 “a glacier-cold shoulder.”: Ibid.

  209 “desires . . . [PBY] to land on Ice Cap”: Message from Admiral Smith, undated but most likely December 31, 1942, or January 1, 1943.

  209 “aircraft rescue missions are warranted”: Message to COMGREPAT (Commander, Greenland Patrol), Ja
nuary 1, 1943.

  209 “[At] no time has it been the intention”: Message from COMINCH (Commander in chief of U.S. Navy), January 4, 1943.

  210 one more attempt to use a ski-plane: Taub, Greenland Ice Cap Rescue, p. 9. Some reports indicate two Beechcraft planes were sent and one disappeared en route from Bluie West One to Bluie East Two.

  210 plane’s shadow on the ice cap: Herbert Kurz, interview by John Long, April 24, 2009.

  210 heating the engine in the frigid predawn hours: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 78.

  210 the starter on the number-two engine: Ibid., p. 76.

  211 thirty-four supply trips: Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 146.

  213 On Christmas Day 1942: Spina, memoir, p. 22a.

  213 “We will keep you well supplied”: Capt. Kenneth Turner to the PN9E Camp, typewritten note, December 26, 1942. Paul Spina saved the original note and pasted it in his scrapbook.

  213 Spencer packed thirty pounds: Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 143.

  213 arranging large and small objects in Morse code: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 70–71.

  214 last thing he ever felt: Interview with Patricia O’Hara, August 16, 2012.

  214 two bandannas to each stake: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 84.

  215 an experienced U.S. Army Air Forces dogsled rescue team: Taub, Greenland Ice Cap Rescue, p. 7. Also, Ragnarsson, US Navy PBY Catalina Units, pp. 78–79. In his memoir, Balchen spells the pilot’s name “Dunlap,” but the correct spelling is “Dunlop.”

  215 birthday he shared with his wife: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 85.

  215 Spencer sprang a birthday surprise: Ibid.

  216 “We will try to get you out this time”: Ibid., p. 86.

  216 “be so near those men”: Ibid., p. 79.

  217 “For crying out loud”: Ibid., p. 86.

  217 O’Hara might give up and die: McIntosh, “Snowbound for 68 Days.”

  19: DUMBO ON ICE

  229 Monteverde awoke in the dark: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 95. Also, Spina, memoir, p. 24.

  230 shook hands and prayed together: Spina, memoir, p. 24.