Waite, Amory Hooper, 1902-

Amory Hooper "Bud" Waite (1902-1985) was a polar explorer who participated in eleven expeditions to Antarctica and twelve expeditions to the Arctic regions from 1933 until 1965. He enlisted in the Navy in 1919, but did not begin his career as an explorer until he served as a radio operator on Admiral Richard E. Byrd's second Antarctic expedition. He had received his first commercial radio license in 1926. Waite gained national attention during this expedition when he, Thomas Poulter, and E.J. Demas travelled 120 miles during the winter night to rescue Byrd from his five month isolation at an advance base in the interior of Antarctica. Waite later participated in two other expeditions led by Byrd, Operation Highjump and Operation Deep Freeze. His most lasting contribution to polar exploration was the development of a method for measuring the depth of ice using radio waves. This technique, which he patented, became known as radio echo sounding.

From the description of Amory H. ("Bud") Waite papers, 1880-[ongoing], bulk 1930-[ongoing]. (Ohio State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 39520526

Amory Hooper (Bud) Waite Jr. (b. Feb. 14, 1902, Boston, Mass.-d. Jan. 15, 1985, Venice, Fla.) was a polar explorer and radio engineer. He learned to operate a radio in the Boy Scouts at age twelve and this formed the basis of his career. In 1919, at age seventeen, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a wireless operator for four years. He was nicknamed Bud in the Navy and was known as Bud for the rest of his life. After leaving the Navy, Waite held a number of jobs in Boston including working at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard installing radios in ships and submarines, and then at the Shortwave and Television Corporation, where he worked on some of the earliest television broadcasts. He graduated from the Lowell Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1926. From 1927-1935 he served in the Massachusetts National Guard. In 1933 he joined Admiral Richard E. Byrd on the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (BAE II, 1933-1935) serving as the radio operator at Little America (LA II). Waite gained prominence from this expedition for being one of the three men who saved Admiral Byrd''s life. Admiral Byrd was staying alone in an isolated shack to take meteorological observations and test his personal limits when he succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty ventilating system that trapped fumes from his stove. Erratic radio messages from Byrd to Little America triggered three rescue attempts. Two failed attempts were made before Waite and two others succeeded in finding the way to Byrd''s shack. The three of them nursed Byrd back to health and then they all returned safely to Little America. From 1941 to 1965 Waite worked as an electrical engineer with the U. S. Army Signal Corps based out of the Coles Signal Laboratory in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. As a Signal Corps employee, Waite was involved in World War II, atomic bomb tests, and additional polar expeditions. In 1944 he was sent to Europe to install radio relay communication systems across the English Channel for the invasion of Normandy. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his role in establishing cross-channel communication for D-Day. He then went to Japan to do similar work. In 1946 he was at Bikini Atoll to research the effects of atomic bombs on radio communication. He participated in 14 nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific and in Nevada. From 1946 to 1965 Waite was the Coordinator of the U.S. Army Electronics Command - Antarctic and Arctic Research Teams. In this role he participated in 10 Antarctic and 12 Arctic expeditions. He developed a technique to measure the depth of ice using a radio altimeter. In addition to his radio research, he was also a patent holder. Waite gave over 3,000 lectures about his polar adventures. Cape Waite in Antarctica is named in his honor.

From the description of Waite, Amory Hooper, 1902-1985 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10677867