(In Alphabetical Order)
HISTORICAL
BERNT BALCHEN—A Norway-born aviation pioneer, Balchen became a colonel in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and commanded the northernmost American base in Greenland. He was the first to spot the downed B-17 PN9E and was instrumental in planning and executing rescue efforts.
ALFRED “CLINT” BEST—A tech sergeant and cryptographer at Bluie West One, Best volunteered to take part in the search for Homer McDowell’s missing C-53 aboard the B-17 PN9E.
BENJAMIN BOTTOMS—A Coast Guard radioman from Georgia, Bottoms volunteered to serve alongside pilot John Pritchard Jr. during the Duck’s fateful mission to rescue the B-17 PN9E crew.
MAX DEMOREST—A gifted glaciologist with a doctorate from Princeton University, Demorest sidetracked his academic career during the war to become commanding officer of a rescue outpost on the east coast of Greenland called Beach Head Station.
HENDRIK “DUTCH” DOLLEMAN—Born in the Netherlands, Dolleman was a sergeant in the U.S. Army who spent time in Antarctica before being sent to Greenland to take part in rescue efforts.
CHARLES DORIAN—An ensign aboard the Northland and later a Coast Guard captain, Dorian alerted the ship’s captain to the sighting of the lost Canadians. He served as a primary source and technical adviser on this book.
BERNARD “BARNEY” DUNLOP—A U.S. Navy lieutenant, Dunlop was the pilot of the PBY Catalina/Dumbo used in the rescue efforts at the Motorsled Camp. His crew included copilot Nathan Waters, flight engineer Alex Sabo, radioman Harold Larsen, and Dr. P. W. Sweetzer, medical officer at Bluie East Two.
WILLIAM EVERETT—A corporal who was a crew member on the C-53 cargo plane that crashed in Greenland on November 5, 1942.
RICHARD FULLER—A Coast Guard ensign aboard the Northland who volunteered to go ashore to lead what he thought would be a two-week rescue effort. He and his fellow Coast Guardsmen were stuck on the ice for five months.
DAVID GOODLET—Pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force A-20 that crashed in Greenland on November 10, 1942.
JOSEPH HEALEY—A sergeant, Healey served on the crew of Admiral Byrd’s 1933–1935 Antarctic expedition before becoming a dogsled driver on rescue teams in Greenland during World War II.
FRANK HENDERSON—A navy ensign who was pilot of the backup PBY Catalina during the rescue mission.
LOREN “LOLLY” HOWARTH—Radioman on the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53. Howarth’s work rebuilding the broken radio was credited with making possible the B-17 crew’s survival. He was aboard the Duck on November 29, 1942.
THURMAN JOHANNESSEN—A private who was a crew member on the C-53 cargo plane that crashed in Greenland on November 5, 1942.
HERBERT KURZ—Navigator on Kenneth “Pappy” Turner’s supply B-17.
EUGENE MANAHAN—A staff sergeant who was a crew member on the C-53 cargo plane that crashed in Greenland on November 5, 1942.
HOMER MCDOWELL—A captain who was pilot of the C-53 cargo plane. His crash on the east coast of Greenland on November 5, 1942, set in motion the search-and-rescue efforts by the B-17 PN9E and the Grumman Duck.
J. G. MOE—An army captain who served as navigator on Jimmie Wade’s unsuccessful attempt to rescue the survivors at the Motorsled Camp.
ARMAND MONTEVERDE—A captain from California, Monteverde was pilot of the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53. Monteverde’s leadership was credited with helping his crew survive after the crash.
AL NASH—Navigator of the Royal Canadian Air Force A-20 that crashed in Greenland on November 10, 1942.
WILLIAM “BILL” O’HARA—A stoic native of a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania, O’Hara was navigator of the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53.
FRANCIS “FRANK” POLLARD—A lieutenant commander, Pollard was the captain of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Northland during the rescue of the Canadian crew and the efforts to rescue the PN9E crew.
JOHN PRITCHARD JR.—South Dakota–born and California-raised, the eldest of five children, Pritchard became a Coast Guard flier after more than two years as an enlisted man in the navy. As a lieutenant assigned to the cutter Northland, Pritchard piloted the ship’s amphibious rescue and surveillance plane, the Grumman Duck. After leading the successful rescue of three Canadian fliers, Pritchard attempted to rescue crew members of the downed B-17 PN9E.
LLOYD “WOODY” PURYEAR—A staff sergeant from Kentucky, Puryear was a volunteer searcher aboard the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53.
EDWARD “ICEBERG” SMITH—A rear admiral with a PhD in oceanography from Harvard, Smith led the Coast Guard’s Greenland Patrol during the war and played a role in planning rescue efforts for the PN9E crew.
HARRY SPENCER—An effervescent Texan and a natural leader, Spencer was copilot of the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53. Along with Armand Monteverde, Spencer was credited with keeping alive fellow crew members after the crash.
PAUL SPINA—An easygoing private from upstate New York, Spina was the engineer on the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53.
WILLIAM SPRINGER—A lieutenant, he was copilot of the C-53 cargo plane whose crash in Greenland on November 5, 1942, set in motion the search-and-rescue efforts by the B-17 PN9E and the Grumman Duck.
HAROLD STRONG—A captain who’d made a fortune in the stock market and worked as a trapper in Alaska, Strong led a search-and-rescue team in Greenland that played an important role in the effort to rescue the downed B-17 PN9E crew.
DON TETLEY—A sergeant from Texas with a background as a cowboy, Tetley served on the motorsled rescue team with Max Demorest. He spent more than two months with survivors of the PN9E crash.
ALEXANDER “AL” TUCCIARONE—A laborer and truck driver in the Bronx before the war, Tucciarone was a private who served as assistant engineer aboard the B-17 PN9E that crashed on November 9, 1942, while searching for Homer McDowell’s lost C-53.
KENNETH “PAPPY” TURNER—A native of Salt Lake City, Turner was the pilot of a B-17 that braved months of terrible flying conditions to airdrop supplies to the survivors of the B-17 PN9E crash.
JIMMIE WADE—A Canadian bush pilot, Wade volunteered for an unsuccessful rescue mission to the Motorsled Camp.
ARTHUR WEAVER—Radioman of the Royal Canadian Air Force A-20 that crashed in Greenland on November 10, 1942.
CLARENCE WEDEL—A mechanic from Kansas, Wedel was a private en route to England who hitched a ride aboard the B-17 PN9E days before it crashed in Greenland.
ROBERT WIMSATT—A colonel, Wimsatt was commander of the U.S. Army’s Greenland bases and took part in overseeing the rescue efforts.
MODERN
ALBERTO BEHAR—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Behar holds a PhD in electrical engineering and a degree in robotics. He designed the down-hole camera that played a pivotal role in the expedition. Behar also oversees one of the experiments aboard the NASA Mars rover Curiosity.
AARON BENNET—An independent television producer, Bennet served as Lou Sapienza’s de facto business partner, handling financial, media, and other duties while he pitched a show based on the exploits of Lou and his exploration company.
JAMES “JIM” BLOW—A U.S. Coast Guard commander, Blow serves in the Office of Aviation Forces and was the service’s liaison and mission leader for the Duck Hunt. He led the Coast Guard team during the 2012 search-and-recovery mission.
JOHN BRADLEY—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012 and a veteran ice rescue guide, Bradley served as a leader of the safety team. He oversees the mountaineering department of REI’s flagship store in Denver.
NICHOLAS “NICK” BRATTON—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012 and a former mountaineering guide, Bratton served as a member of the safety team. Away from the ice, Bratton designs land conservation programs in Washington State. Bratton also serves as the board treasurer for the Fallen American Veterans Foundation.
MICHELLE BRINSKO—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Brinsko served as the base camp manager and chief cook. If there had been a morale officer, she would have been it. Away from Greenland, she is a physical therapist.
JOE DEER—A Coast Guard commander who served in the Office of Aviation Forces, Deer was a key member of the service’s team that launched the Duck Hunt.
JETTA DISCO—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Disco is a petty officer second class in the Coast Guard. She serves in the service’s public affairs office in New York. Her images of the expedition constitute the official record.
JAANA GUSTAFSSON—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Gustafsson was the team’s inexhaustible ground-penetrating radar expert. A Finn living in Sweden, Gustafsson has a PhD in geophysics and works as a land surveyor.
KENNETH “DOC” Harman—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Harman is a captain in the Coast Guard and a flight surgeon. Harman has responded for the Coast Guard to trouble spots around the globe.
JERRY HOWARTH—Nephew and primary next of kin of Loren “Lolly” Howarth.
STEVE KATZ—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Katz served as second-in-command of North South Polar. A retired colonel in the Army Reserves, Katz works as an executive in a logistics and transportation company.
TOM KING—A retired Coast Guard captain, King was active in the Coast Guard Aviation Association when he suggested that efforts be made to locate the lost Grumman Duck and recover the bodies of the men aboard the plane.
NANCY PRITCHARD MORGAN KRAUSE—Sister and primary next of kin to John Pritchard Jr. She was an inspiration to and a stalwart supporter of the Duck Hunt.
TERRI LISMAN—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Lisman is an image scientist for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Brought on the mission by the Coast Guard, she operated the magnetometer used to confirm BW-1 as a key search location.
JOHN LONG—Retired master chief petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and an indefatigable researcher into the crash of the Grumman Duck.
FRANK MARLEY—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Marley served as leader of the safety team. A third-year medical student, Marley intends to practice expedition medicine. At the time of the Duck Hunt, he had just returned from Afghanistan, where he was a captain in the U.S. Army National Guard.
JAMES MCDONOUGH—A lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, or DPMO, who was a primary contact for Lou Sapienza as he planned the Duck Hunt.
EDWARD “BUD” RICHARDSON—Stepson of Benjamin Bottoms and an important supporter of the effort to find the Duck and the men it carried.
LOU SAPIENZA—The son of a U.S. Navy veteran from World War II, Lou spent years as a commercial photographer before volunteering for three missions to Greenland to find a lost P-38 fighter plane known as Glacier Girl. Eventually that led him to a years-long effort to find the lost Grumman Duck. He led the 2010 and 2012 recovery expeditions to Greenland.
RYAN SAPIENZA—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Ryan Sapienza served as keeper of the expedition log and aide-de-camp. He is Lou’s son.
ROBERT “WEEGEE” SMITH—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Smith oversaw logistics and operated the Hotsy water pressure unit used to explore anomalies beneath the glacier at Koge Bay. A veteran of Greenland expeditions in search of World War II planes, he builds and repairs rally race cars in Vermont.
MARC STORCH—Cousin by marriage of Loren “Lolly” Howarth and keeper of Howarth’s Legion of Merit.
DONALD TAUB—A retired Coast Guard captain who served in Greenland, Taub played a major role in researching the events from November 1942 to May 1943, and served as a historical adviser on this book.
W. R. “BIL” THUMA—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Thuma served as an authority on geophysics. Thuma is a consultant who markets technology for natural resource exploration around the world.
ROB TUCKER—A member of the Duck Hunt expedition of 2012, Tucker is a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard, based in Washington. A pilot, Tucker served as second-in-command to Jim Blow on the Coast Guard expedition team.
Acknowledgments
IT’S A POWERFUL and unsettling experience to be drawn into the orbit of someone possessed by an impossible dream. At times I wondered if Lou Sapienza would awake and abandon his quixotic plan to find three airmen entombed in a glacier. Or maybe he’d suffer one too many sacrifices and surrender to self-preservation. But no matter how many setbacks Lou faced, nothing deterred him. The Duck Hunt expedition was the accomplishment of a rare and remarkable man. If I’m ever lost, I hope that Lou decides that I need to be found.
I’m profoundly indebted to Commander Jim Blow of the U.S. Coast Guard. He made countless essential contributions to the Duck Hunt and to this book, and he welcomed me on the mission with respect and kindness. I admire his leadership and value his friendship. As I say elsewhere, he’s a gentleman.
Deep thanks to all my expedition mates, several of whom offered valuable comments on the manuscript. I hope that the friendships we made will endure as long as the memories. In alphabetical order: Alberto Behar, John Bradley, Nick Bratton, Michelle Brinsko, Jetta Disco, Jaana Gustafsson, Ken Harman, Steve Katz, Terri Lisman, Frank Marley, Ryan Sapienza, Bil Thuma, and Rob Tucker. A special shout-out to my friend Robert “WeeGee” Smith, with whom I shared one of the most extraordinary moments of my life.
Retired master chief petty officer John Long was a tireless researcher and an unflagging advocate for the families of John Pritchard, Ben Bottoms, and Loren Howarth. This book is marbled with his insights and contributions.
Three retired Coast Guard captains played key roles in this book. Don Taub spent years investigating these events: he tracked down participants, analyzed innumerable documents, and corrected mistakes made in earlier accounts. Thomas C. King Jr., who kick-started the Duck Hunt, provided essential help as I began this project. Charles Dorian sent me the rare photographs he took as an ensign aboard the Northland during the fall of 1942. His tales of life aboard ship were invaluable.
I’m thankful to the family members of the heroes whose stories are told here. Trusting me with their loved ones’ reputations, they shared documents, photos, and insight into these remarkable men. Thank you, Nancy Pritchard Morgan Krause, who brought to life her late brother, John Pritchard; Edward “Bud” Richardson, who reached into his childhood memories to describe his stepfather, Benjamin Bottoms; and Marc Storch and Jerry Howarth, who shared stories of Loren Howarth.
Thanks also to Pete Tucciarone, who told me loving anecdotes about his father, Alexander “Al” Tucciarone; Reba Greathead and Eric Langhorst, who enlightened me about her father and his grandfather-in-law, Clarence Wedel; Robert Best, who made me feel as though I knew his father, Alfred “Clint” Best; Jean Gaffney, daughter of Paul Spina, who shared his priceless forty-page account of his ordeal; Patricia O’Hara, daughter of William “Bill” O’Hara, who regaled me with tales of his toughness; Nancy Dunlop, daughter of PBY pilot Bernard Dunlop; and Carol Sue Spencer Podraza, daughter of Harry Spencer, whose vivid stories and delightful way of telling them made every conversation a pleasure.
Among the historians, librarians, and archivists who helped me were two who went above and beyond: Coast Guard historian Robert M. Browning Jr., PhD, and William H. Thiesen, PhD, Atlantic Area Coast Guard historian. Thanks also to Martina Soden of the Scranton, Pennsylvania, Public Library; Karen Kortbein of the Wausaukee, Wisconsin, Public Library; and Mark C. Mollan, archivist in the Navy/Maritime Reference section at the National Archives and Records Administration. My graduate assistant, Sarah Testa, devised a filing system for my research that imposed order on chaos. Thanks to Evan Caughey for creating a sparkling website.
Chuck Greenhill, owner of the last flying Grumman Duck model J2F-4, and Duck enthusiast Bill Floten shared their deep knowledge of the wonderful little plane. In Aaron Bennet, Lou Sapienza found a true partner and a match for his relentlessness. Deep thanks to Jim and Nancy Bildner, who generously supported this effort.
Every author should have Richard Abate as an agent. Actually, scratch that, because then I’d have to wait longer for his wise counsel and great humor. His contributions to this book and to my career are too many to list. There’s no female equivalent of mensch, so I propose claire, as long as it’s first applied to my editor, Claire Wachtel. I’m only sorry that she didn’t join me on the ice.
In my last book I thanked Jonathan Burnham at HarperCollins for everything; now double that. Double it again for Michael Morrison. If she’d abandon her allegiance to the Giants, publicist extraordinaire Kate Blum would be perfect. Kathy Schneider, Tina Andreadis, and Leah Wasielewski move heaven and earth with grace and charm. Miranda Ottewell’s unerring eye kept my copy clean. Doug Jones and his team are the best in the business. Special thanks to Melissa Kahn at 3Arts and to Elizabeth Perrella at HarperCollins, for taking such good care of me and my work.
At Boston University, I’m grateful to my students for challenging and invigorating me, and to Dean Tom Fiedler; Chairman Bill McKeen; and journalism professors Bob Zelnick, Lou Ureneck, Chris Daly, Susan Walker, Nick Mills, Elizabeth Mehren, Rob Manoff, Peter Southwick, Jon Klarfeld, Michelle Johnson, and R. D. Sahl, among many others.
I’m fortunate to have close friends who’d be first-rate company in the tail section of a B-17: confidant and coconspirator Brian McGrory; Dan Field; Colleen Granahan; Isabelle Granahan-Field; Eliza Granahan-Field, to whom this book is secretly dedicated; Bill, Ruth, and Emily Weinstein; my oldest friend, Jeff Feigelson, whose advice on the manuscript and legal matters is deeply appreciated; my partner in crime and class, Dick Lehr; Chris Callahan; Naftali Bendavid; Kathryn Altman; Helene Atwan; Joann Muller; and the late Wilbur Doctor. A nod to the memory of a loyal and loving pal named Briggs. He would have loved Koge.
The competition of our youth has mellowed, but I’ll always be trying to impress my brother, Allan Zuckoff, and to meet the standards he sets. Thanks also to the extended Zuckoff and Kreiter clans. Next summer in Bethany.
My parents, Sid and Gerry Zuckoff, didn’t like my traipsing around Greenland; they liked it better when they could limit my wanderings to an imaginary line near Ira Meyers’s house. Yet in this project as in all things, their love and support have been the secret weapons of my life.
My daughters are my northern lights: they fill me with delight as they take away my breath. Isabel Zuckoff is a person I admire as much as I love. Eve Zuckoff is a person I love as much as I admire.
My wife, Suzanne Kreiter, rescues me daily. She makes everything possible.