ABSTRACT
There is an apocryphal story about Richard Evelyn Byrd, the Virginia gentleman turned polar explorer, who more than anyone tied Antarctica's fate to the United States. Standing on the deck of the wooden ship, Bear of Oakland, on his third trip to Antarctica, Byrd pointed out to Lt. George Dufek, his navigator, the sheer white barrier of the Ross Ice Shelf. Dufek was making his first trip to Antarctica, although he was destined to return there many times. One can imagine the theatrical Byrd, already world famous for his north and south polar flights, waving a proprietary hand at the great natural spectacle before them. "What do you think of it?" Byrd asked. To which the young naval officer replied, "It's a hell of a lot of ice. But what good is it?" 1
