IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 203
Recognizing the late Bernt Balchen for his many contributions to the United
States and a lifetime of remarkable achievements on the centenary of
his birth, October 23, 1999.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 21, 1999
Mr. SABO submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Government Reform
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing the late Bernt Balchen for his many contribu-
tions to the United States and a lifetime of remarkable
achievements on the centenary of his birth, October 23,
1999.
Whereas Bernt Balchen, as co-pilot and navigator with Floyd
Bennett and under the sponsorship of Joseph Wana-
maker, flew the Ford trimotor monoplane ‘‘Josephine
Ford’’ on a flying tour to more than 50 American cities
in 1926, thereby promoting commercial aviation as a
safe, reliable, and practical means of transport;
Whereas in 1927 Bernt Balchen, piloting the first flight to
carry United States mail over the Atlantic Ocean, flew
the aircraft ‘‘America’’ to France under weather condi-
tions so adverse that he was forced to set the aircraft
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down in the surf off Normandy at night, a maneuver that
he executed so skillfully that he saved all on board the
aircraft;
Whereas on November 29, 1929, Bernt Balchen, while par-
ticipating in the first expedition of Admiral Richard Eve-
lyn Byrd to Antarctica, became the first pilot to fly a
plane over the South Pole;
Whereas Bernt Balchen was indispensable to the success of
various American expeditions in Antarctica under the
leadership of Admiral Byrd and Lincoln Ellsworth;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, under secret conditions and in
record time, was responsible for building in Greenland in
the autumn of 1941 the air base Sondre Stromfjord, then
known as ‘‘Bluie West Eight’’, that was used for ferrying
warplanes to Europe;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, as commander of ‘‘Bluie West
Eight’’ between September 1941 and November 1943,
provided his personnel with training in cold weather sur-
vival skills and rescue techniques which enabled them to
carry out many spectacular rescues of downed airmen on
the Greenland icecap;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, on May 7, 1943, successfully led a
bombing raid that destroyed the sole German post in
Greenland, a weather station and antiaircraft battery on
the east coast of Greenland, thereby hindering the ability
of the German armed forces to predict weather patterns
in the North Atlantic and Europe;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, between March and December 1944,
commanded an air transport operation that safely evacu-
ated from Sweden at least 2,000 Norwegians, 900 Amer-
ican internees, and 150 internees of other nationalities
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and transported strategic freight and numerous impor-
tant diplomats and Armed Forces officers;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, between July and October 1944,
commanded a clandestine air transport operation that
transported 64 tons of operational supplies from Scotland
to occupied Norway in defiance of severe enemy opposi-
tion;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, between November 1944 and April
1945, commanded a clandestine air transport operation
that, again in defiance of severe enemy opposition, trans-
ported from England to Sweden 200 tons of arctic equip-
ment and operational supplies that were used to make
clandestine overland transport from Sweden to Norway
possible;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, during the winter of 1945,
made
C–47 aircraft under his command available to
transport into northern Norway the communications fa-
cilities that thereafter transmitted from Norway intel-
ligence of inestimable value to the Allied Expeditionary
Force;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, as one of the founders of the Scan-
dinavian Airlines System, pioneered commercial airline
flight over the North Pole, which increased business de-
velopment in Alaska and shortened the flying time nec-
essary for international flights between the United States
and points in Europe and Asia;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, from November 1948 to January
1951, commanded the 10th Rescue Squadron of the
United States Air Force, which was headquartered in
Alaska but ranged across the entire northern tier of
North America rescuing downed airmen, and led the
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squadron in the development of the techniques that are
now universally used in cold weather search and rescue
operations;
Whereas Bernt Balchen was the individual primarily respon-
sible for the pioneering and development of the strategic
air base at Thule, Greenland, which was built secretly in
1951 under severe weather conditions and which, by ex-
tending the range of the Strategic Air Command, in-
creased the capabilities that made the Strategic Air Com-
mand a significant deterrent to Soviet aggression during
the Cold War;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, as Assistant for Arctic Activities in
the Directorate of Operations of the United States Air
Force, rendered expert advice on the development of con-
cepts, procedures, and programs pertaining to the Arctic
that have been consistently utilized by other agencies in
planning Arctic projects and operations of national and
international interest;
Whereas Bernt Balchen served brilliantly as an officer in the
United States Air Force and contributed immeasurably
to the mission of the Air Force and the security of the
United States;
Whereas the International Aviation Snow Symposium, of
which Bernt Balchen was a founder and honorary chair-
man, established in 1976 the Balchen Award that is pre-
sented annually to recognize excellence in the perform-
ance of airport snow and ice removal, is sought avidly by
the managers of airports of all categories in the United
States and Canada, and has successfully encouraged pro-
gressive improvement in cold weather airport safety and
air travel;
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Whereas the United States Government has awarded Bernt
Balchen the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Congressional
Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distin-
guished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Soldier’s
Medal, and the Air Medal, and other governments and
societies have awarded Bernt Balchen various other med-
als and awards in recognition of his patriotism and re-
markable achievement in aviation;
Whereas Bernt Balchen, a native of Norway who became a
citizen of the United States on November 5, 1931, before
a Federal judge in Hackensack, New Jersey, and entered
the military service of the United States in the United
States Army Air Corps on September 5, 1941, at all
times furthered the cordial relationship between the
United States of America and the Kingdom of Norway,
one of America’s most-cherished allies;
Whereas Bernt Balchen was buried with full military honors
at Arlington National Cemetery on October 23, 1973;
and
Whereas October 23, 1999, is the 100th anniversary of the
birth of Bernt Balchen and is being observed as such in
many commemorative events taking place in the United
States and Norway: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the late Bernt Balchen is hereby recog-
nized for his extraordinary service to the United States,
including the national security.
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SEC. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives
shall transmit an enrolled copy of this concurrent resolu-
tion to the family of Bernt Balchen.
Æ