Frozen in Time

by Mitchell Zuckoff

  51 one thousand feet of clearance: Spencer, speech.

  51 no man would have objected: In their MACR affidavits, Spencer and assistant engineer Alexander Tucciarone both say that, to the best of their knowledge, everyone aboard thought they were well above the ice cap.

  52 laborer and truck driver back home in the Bronx: World War II enlistment records, from www.fold3.com/page/86088102_alexander_l_tucciarone (accessed January 23, 2012). See also “Ferry Tales,” Sunday Morning Star, January 10, 1943.

  52 postcard that read: Postcard addressed to “Miss A. Imperati,” November 2, 1942, provided to the author by Peter Tucciarone.

  52 couldn’t see five feet beyond the bomber: Tucciarone to Marsh, p. 2.

  53 “Somebody pull me in—I’m freezing”: Burlyn Pike, “Nineteen Days of Freezing Hell,” Courier-Journal Roto Magazine, n.d., in Lieutenant John Pritchard, Coast Guard personnel file.

  53 five foot four: Paul J. Spina, military ID, located in his personal scrapbook. His draft record at ancestry.com (accessed January 20, 2012) lists him at five foot three.

  53 one of the volunteer searchers: The injuries sustained by the crew are detailed in the MACR affidavits given by Armand Monteverde, Harry Spencer, and Alexander Tucciarone. There is disagreement whether Puryear was also thrown through the PN9E’s nose, but most accounts suggest he was not.

  55 about 10 degrees: Spencer, MACR affidavit, p. 1.

  55 flamed out: La Farge, Long Wait, chap. 1.

  55 dry, sandy snow: Ibid.

  56 “lack of depth perception”: USAAF accident report, p. 1.

  57 afraid to even try it: Spencer’s account in Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 141.

  58 When engineer Paul Spina regained his senses: Spina, memoir, p. 7.

  58 admired the small man’s toughness: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days on ‘White Hell’ Icecap,” Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1943.

  58 marveled that the tarp was in the plane: Spina, memoir, p. 7.

  59 “Memories of home”: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  59 parched: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 48.

  59 brought along a thermos: Alexander L. Tucciarone, 27th Ferrying Squadron, statement taken by Charles G. Conley, Major, A.G., December 25, 1942, in Benjamin Bottoms’s Coast Guard personnel file, p. 2.

  59 Spina’s hands were too frozen: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  60 “Am I missing you all right?”: “Five Months on the Ice Cap,” Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin, October 1943, p. 47.

  60 Monteverde made a modest announcement: La Farge, Long Wait, chap. 1. See also Tucciarone to Marsh, p. 3.

  61 whenever the storm died down: Tucciarone, statement, p. 1.

  61 aspiring actor: Loren Howarth’s enlistment record, www.ancestry.com (accessed January 24, 2011).

  62 thirty-six days: Count of K and D rations contained in Spencer’s account in Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 140.

  62 stretch the rations for ten days: Spina, memoir, p. 10. There is some disagreement about when the rations were found. In his memoir, Spina says it wasn’t until after the third day.

  63 a few squares of chocolate: Tucciarone to Marsh, p. 3.

  63 “stoved up”: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  63 suffered the most: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

  63 Spina fished out a cigarette: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  63 a bond with copilot Harry Spencer: Spina, memoir, p. 9.

  65 sixteen C-47s and six B-17s: AACC report #5569, December 19, 1942, p. 2.

  65 30 degrees below zero: “Captain Tells of 148 Days in Greenland’s Ice,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 5, 1943.

  65 someone would be out looking for them: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  65 knelt together to pray: Ibid., p. 10.

  65 decided to have a look around: There are multiple accounts of Spencer’s fall into the crevasse, some with conflicting details. The account here relies primarily on Spencer’s own version, found in Spencer’s MACR affidavit, p. 2; along with Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 141; Spina, memoir, p. 10; and La Farge, Long Wait, chap. 2.

  66 graduated from the University of Scranton: “Attorney William O’Hara Dies; Was an Ex-PUC Commissioner,” obituary, Scranton Times, December 26, 1990. See also Patricia O’Hara, interview, August 16, 2012.

  66 see the water: “Captain Tells of 148 Days.”

  67 paddle along the coast: Spencer, speech.

  6: MAN DOWN

  68 a goner: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 48.

  69 his own obituary: Harry E. Spencer Jr. obituary, Dallas Morning News, www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=79596093 (accessed February 2, 2012).

  69 didn’t drop for five seconds: Time estimates are based on “Speed, Distance, and Time of Fall for an Average-Sized Adult in Stable Free Fall Position,” www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/speedtime.pdf (accessed February 3, 2012).

  69 about one hundred feet from the surface: Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, p. 141.

  70 Spencer landed on his back: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 48. In his telling of Spencer’s story, La Farge does not specify exactly how Spencer landed. However, he writes that Spencer “brushed off the snow” before he stood up, which logically suggests that Spencer was on his back.

  71 strangely serene: Spencer’s official affidavit did not describe his feelings and vivid descriptions about his predicament, but he shared them with La Farge for The Long Wait. They are included in Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 48–49, which is the source of much of the information about Spencer’s fall. Spencer also described the fall in his videotaped speech to the Irving Rotary Club on August 31, 1989.

  71 “God must have a plan for me”: Spencer, speech.

  71 called for help: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  71 “Get rope!”: Tucciarone to Marsh, p. 4.

  72 a telltale sign: Tucciarone, statement, p. 2.

  72 braided six lines: The rescue of Harry Spencer is told in several places, sometimes with varying details. The detail about six shroud lines, for instance, appears in his MACR affidavit but not in Matz, History of the 2nd Ferrying Group, or La Farge, Long Wait.

  72 under his armpits: Spencer, affidavit, p. 2.

  74 they prayed as a congregation: Spina, memoir, p. 10.

  74 “I don’t even know”: Ibid., p. 13.

  74 butt ends of the plane’s machine guns: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 50.

  75 rubbed O’Hara’s feet: Ibid.

  75 sprinkled sulfa powder: Spina, memoir, p. 13.

  75 hours-long shifts: Tucciarone, statement, p. 1.

  75 learned to leave their gloves outside: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 57.

  75 “Don’t wear tight shoes”: U.S. Army Air Forces Arctic Survival Manual, located at http://arcticwebsite.com/USAAFsurvival.html (accessed February 6, 2012).

  76 blisters the size of tennis balls: Spina, memoir, p. 8.

  7: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

  79 two hours after they left Newfoundland: This account of the crash and rescue of the RAF A-20 and its crew is derived largely from C. B. Wall, “Fourteen Days of Hell on an Icecap,” Maclean’s, May 15, 1943, a narrative based on interviews with David Goodlet and Arthur Weaver. Other sources include “Greater Love Hath No Man; A Story of the U.S. Coast Guard,” St. Petersburg Times, May 8, 1943; Taub, Greenland Ice Cap Rescue, pp. 2–3; and the Coast Guard’s official service history of the USCG cutter Northland.

  80 “Good show, old cock!”: Wall, “Fourteen Days of Hell,” p. 9.

  83 seventeen miles: Coast Guard message, November 18, 1942: “Men have left plane and are walking toward Anortek (Anoretok) Fjord. Present position of men is seventeen miles northeast of plane position.”

  84 less than two days old: Coast Guard message, November 23, 1942, which says in part, “Northland aerial reconnaissance this afternoon found snowshoe tracks of 3 men leading from westward . . . be
lieve less than 2 days old.”

  87 “I just saw a light”: Dorian, interview, June 25, 2012.

  88 “twilight between sanity and insanity”: Wall, “Fourteen Days of Hell,” p. 10.

  89 “Dave had his wife”: Ibid., p. 94.

  90 “Lieutenant Pritchard’s intelligent planning”: Medal citation at http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=30361 (accessed February 21, 2012).

  90 map salvaged from the cockpit: Spina, memoir, p. 12.

  91 “Well done”: SOPA Smith to Northland, November 24, 1942, Coast Guard message.

  8: THE HOLY GRAIL

  94 about $22 million: Defense Prisoner of War / Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 President’s Budget, http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2012

  /budget_justification/pdfs/01_Operation_and_Maintenance/O_M_VOL_1

  _PARTS/O_M_VOL_1_BASE_PARTS/DPMO_OP–5_FY_2012.pdf (accessed January 31, 2012), p. 405.

  95 King grew up: Thomas C. King Jr., interviews, August 21, 2011, and January 24, 2012.

  95 piloting a combat rescue helicopter: Steve Vogel, “Bearing Reminders of Terror, USS Cole Is Back in Action,” Washington Post, December 25, 2003.

  98 “see if you can find something”: John Long, interview, August 15, 2011.

  98 “Lou” Sapienza spent his childhood: Lou Sapienza, interviews, including a lengthy discussion of his background on January 25, 2012.

  100 dogsled leader: Wolfgang Saxon, “Norman Dane Vaughan, 100; Went to Antarctica with Byrd,” New York Times, December 27, 2005.

  9: SHORT SNORTERS

  104 They salvaged what they could: Spina, memoir, p. 11.

  104 a primitive calendar: Ibid., pp. 31–32.

  105 nearly impossible for searchers: Report of Aircraft Accident, Form #14, Covering the Aircraft B-17F, #42–5088, Incl. #6, listing date of search, number of flights, and origin of search planes.

  105 Daily logs: “Communications Relative to Lost C-53, 42–15569,” memo attached to Report of Aircraft Accident #42–5088, pp. 3–4.

  105 better than anyone else on earth: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  106 prayed the rosary daily: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days.”

  107 already sent his Christmas cards: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  107 “Short Snorters”: Ibid.

  107 traced its origins: Numerous accounts exist of the origins and rules of the Short Snorters, with varying details. See John T. Bills, “Meet the Flying Short Snorters,” Miami Herald, May 31, 1942, www.shortsnorter.org

  /Meet_The_Flying_Short_Snorters.html (accessed February 7, 2012). See also General Mark W. Clark, Calculated Risk (New York: Enigma, 2007), p. 28.

  107 tattooed a dollar bill on his chest: Dee Breden, “The Short Snorter Racket,” New York Times Magazine, September 9, 1945, p. 98.

  108 “a billion dollar racket”: Ibid.

  108 President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “President Carries ‘Card’ in ‘Short Snorter’ Club,” New York Times, February 13, 1943.

  109 radio equipment: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, pp. 50–51.

  109 glass vacuum tubes: Spina, memoir, p. 11.

  109 Born in a log cabin built by his logger father: Background information on Howarth comes from interviews with Jerry Howarth, nephew of Loren Howarth, and Marc Storch, a cousin by marriage, on February 18, 2012.

  109 Single when he’d enlisted: Loren E. Howarth, World War II enlistment record, www.ancestry.com.

  110 the plane’s batteries: Spencer, MACR affidavit, p. 2.

  110 gas-powered generator: Spina, memoir, p. 12.

  110 Spina cringed as he heard Howarth: Ibid.

  111 “I can’t do it”: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  111 studied torn and incomplete assembly diagrams: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days.”

  111 snow poured in: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  111 rivets began to pop: Balchen, Ford, and La Farge, War below Zero, p. 50.

  112 ham radio operator: SOPA (Senior Officer Present Afloat) to B-17 PN9E, November 27, 1942, Coast Guard message.

  112 filled in the blanks: Ibid.

  112 there was the manual: Spina, memoir, p. 11.

  112 too excited to talk: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days.”

  112 “We got ’em!”: Pike, “Nineteen Days.”

  113 felt like kings: Tucciarone, statement, p. 1.

  113 Monteverde captured the crew’s feelings: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days.”

  10: FROZEN TEARS

  114 November 19 through 23: Report of Aircraft Accident, Form #14, Covering the Aircraft B-17F, #42–5088, Incl. #6 listing date of search, number of flights, and origin of search planes.

  114 last few biscuits: Spina, memoir, p. 12.

  115 They started with one-dollar bills: Carol Sue Spencer Podraza, daughter of Harry Spencer, interview, April 4, 2012. Podraza quoted her father telling her the story with great amusement.

  115 Bernt Balchen: This profile of Balchen is derived from numerous sources, including the Bernt Balchen Papers at the Library of Congress, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2009/ms009032.pdf; Balchen’s authorized but ghostwritten autobiography, Come North with Me (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1958); and “Bernt Balchen, Explorer and Pilot in Arctic, Dead,” New York Times, October 19, 1973.

  117 modest, even shy: “Bernt Balchen Weds Former Schoolmate,” New York Times, October 21, 1930.

  118 a chance to demonstrate his rescue skills: Associated Press, “Balchen Assists in 2 Rescue Feats,” New York Times, August 7, 1942.

  119 “When you fight in the Arctic”: Balchen, Come North with Me, pp.

  228–29.

  119 “tossed like a leaf in a cyclone”: Ibid., p. 238.

  119 a small red star: Ibid.

  119 a crushed dragonfly: Ibid.

  120 considered it a miracle: Ibid.

  120 cargo they’d brought along: Balchen to Commanding Officer, Greenland Base Command, “Subject: Search C-53 and Rescue Operations PN9E,” memo, April 30, 1943, pp. 1–2.

  120 froze on their reddened cheeks: “Fortress Pilot Tells of 148 Days.”

  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.