Frozen in Time (35 page)

120 One crewman grabbed a bundle: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge,
War below Zero
, p. 53.

121 would be joining them on the ice: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

121 their eyelids frozen together: Spina, memoir, p. 13. In his memoir, Spina mistakenly says this happened on Thanksgiving, when in fact Balchen first dropped supplies to the PN9E crew two days before, on November 24, 1942.

121 “Take only in small quantity”: Ibid.

122 offered a piece of advice: Balchen, “Subject: Search C-53,” p. 2.

122 tore a page from his diary: Balchen,
Come North with Me
, p. 240.

122 as wide as fifty feet across: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

122 they made O’Hara delirious: Spina, memoir, p. 14.

122 “Situation grave”: “Incoming Message, November 26,” Papers of Corey Ford.

123 the priority became the B-17: SOPA Smith to the
Northland
, November 24, 1942, Coast Guard message.

123 a Norwegian fur trapper and survival expert who’d been stuck in Greenland: Hansen,
Greenland’s Icy Fury
, p. 125.

124 “The Arctic is an unscrupulous enemy”: Balchen,
Come North with Me
, p. 240.

11. “DON’T TRY IT”

126 “further delay will seriously endanger ship and personnel”:
Aklak
to SOPA, November 25, 1942, Coast Guard message for B-17 PN9E.

126 “In view of lateness of [the] season”: SOPA to
Northland
, November 27, 1942, Coast Guard message for B-17 PN9E.

126 “Extremely hazardous”:
Northland
to SOPA, November 27, 1942, Coast Guard message for B-17 PN9E.

126 “Do not take risks”: SOPA to
Northland
, November 28, 1942, Coast Guard message. One version of this message says, “Do not take undue risks this late in season,” but the word “undue” is crossed out. Although this message is dated November 28, the response to the suggestion is dated November 27, which raises the possibility that this message’s date, which is notated by hand, is incorrect.

126 “Do not, repeat not, deem it advisable”:
Northland
to SOPA, November 27, 1942, Coast Guard message.

127 “I shall sell life dearly”: The Creed of the U.S. Coast Guard, www.uscg.mil
/History/faqs/creed.asp (accessed February 21, 2012).

127 “frozen feet, a touch of gangrene, high fever”: “Incoming Message, November 26.”

129 Pritchard’s younger brother Gil was a B-17 pilot: “Ex-‘Times’ Boy, Now Flying Ace, Here on Leave,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 12, 1944.

129 “the touching appeal”: Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 13.

130 a responsible, dependable boy: Nancy Pritchard Morgan Krause, interview, August 24, 2011.

131 four-tenths of a point below the bar: U.S. Rep. W. E. Evans to Rear Admiral Henry G. Hamlet, telegram, July 10, 1934, Pritchard’s Coast Guard personnel file.

131 a blood test: L. C. Covell, Acting Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, to U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson, July 30, 1934. The letter references Pritchard’s positive result on the “Wassermann and Kahn blood tests,” which screened for syphilis.

131 Virginia Pritchard bared her political soul: Virginia Pritchard to Administrator Chester C. Davis, July 8, 1934.

131 an accepted cadet dropped out: Rear Admiral H. G. Hamlet, Coast Guard commandant, to U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson, August 16, 1934.

131 “At reveille,” Sargent recalled, “he would practically jump out of his bunk”: Vice Admiral Thomas R. Sargent III (USCG Retired), commentary,
Bulletin of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association
, April 3, 2008.

133 “Nancy for Tick and Tick for Nancy”: Krause, interview.

133 Bottoms enlisted in the Coast Guard: Benjamin A. Bottoms, Coast Guard personnel service record.

133 “Georgia Cracker”: Lloyd Puryear to the parents of Benjamin Bottoms, February 19, 1943, Bottoms personnel file.

134 forced down in fog twelve miles off the Massachusetts coast: “C.G. Rescues Four Men and Plane at Sea,”
Boston Globe
, December 4, 1939.

134 returned to Massachusetts with measles: Lieutenant Commander E. E. Fahey, commanding officer of Air Station Salem, Massachusetts, note, attached to Clark, “In the Line of Duty,” p. 12.

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, interview, 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.