George J . Dufek George John Dufek ( 10 February 1903 , Rockford , Illinois - 10 February 1977 , Bethesda , Maryland ) was an American naval officer , naval aviator , and polar expert . He served in World War II and the Korean War and in the 1940s and 1950s spent much of his career in the Antarctic , first with Admiral Byrd and later as supervisor of U . S . programs in the South Polar region s . Rear Admiral Dufek was the director of the Mariners ' Museum in Newport News , Virginia after his retirement from the Navy in 1959 . Background and military career . Born in Rockford , Illinois , he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps ( ROTC ) at his local high school and was appointed to the U . S . Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland in 1921 . Upon graduation in 1925 he received his ensign ' s commission and commenced his career aboard the battleship . In 1932 he entered flight training school at the Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida ; after graduating as a naval aviator in 1933 he served as navigator and executive officer on three different ships . During World War II Dufek commanded a flight training squadron , served as senior naval aviator in Algeria during the invasion of North Africa , assisted in the planning for the invasion of Sicily and Salerno and , after his promotion to captain and subsequent reassignment , the invasion of southern France . In September 1944 he assumed command of the escort carrier , which sank the final German submarine lost in World War II . During the Korean War the Navy placed Dufek in command of the aircraft carrier , then on Kwajalein in the Pacific and finally at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor , Washington . Antarctic experience . With Admiral Byrd . In the spring of 1939 Dufek , at this time a lieutenant , requested and received an assignment with Rear Admiral Richard E . Byrd ' s third expedition to Antarctica , where he served as navigator of the , the flagship of the expedition . In recognition of his many hours of exploratory flying over the South Polar continent Dufek later received the Antarctic Expedition Medal . Operation Highjump . After a brief post - war stint in Japan , Dufek was assigned as chief staff office r to a U . S . Navy - Coast Guard task force to establish weather bases in the polar regions . While there he participated in Operation Highjump , a Naval expedition to Antarctica under the command of Admiral Byrd , during which he made the first flight over the Thurston Peninsula and later rescued six survivors of another flight over the same area . He returned to Washington D . C . briefly , but by 1947 was back in the Antarctic , this time commanding a task force sent to supply existing weather stations and to establish new ones near the Pole . Operation Deepfreeze . In 1954 Dufek joined a special Antarctic planning group preparing for the Navy ' s Operation Deep Freeze , a scientific polar research expedition . When planning was complete Dufek was given command of Task Force 43 which , with more than 80 officers and 1000 enlisted men , three ice - breaker s , and three cargo ship s , was charged with logistics and support for the expedition . Among other accomplishments the task force established bases on Ross Island and in Little America , and on October 31 , 1956 , Admiral Dufek and a crew of six became the first Americans to set foot at the South Pole and to plant the American flag , and the first men to land on the pole from the air . On November 28 , 1957 , Dufek was present with a US congressional delegation during a change of command ceremony held at McMurdo Sound . After Admiral Byrd ' s death , Dufek was appointed to succeed him as supervisor of U . S . programs in the South Polar Regions . He died in 1977 , on his 74th birthday . Awards and recognitions . Among the numerous recognitions and awards he received were the Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars , World War II Victory Medal , Korean Service Medal , Croix de guerre and the Korean Presidential Citation . He was a member of the Legion of Honor with the rank of chevalier , and in August 1957 he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal . Antarctic features Dufek Coast , Dufek Head , Dufek Massif , and Dufek Mountain were named in his honor . Bibliography . Books by George John Dufek :