Interview of Kenneth E. Aldrich by Dian O. Belanger

• Main Author: Aldrich, Kenneth E., 1921-2006
• Other Authors: Belanger, Dian Olson, 1941-
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program 2009
• Subjects: Military > Medical personnel > Interviews; Operation Deep Freeze; Oral history; Arctic regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Polar regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Antarctica > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Aldrich; Kenneth E.; 1921-2006 > Interviews; Arctic; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Little America; Little America V; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/36718

The Antarctic Deep Freeze oral history project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and supported by the Antarctic Deep Freeze Association. The original paper copies and unaltered tapes have been deposited in the library of the National Science Foundation. In the absence of the medical officers (physicians) who were training elsewhere, Chief Medical Corpsman Kenneth Aldrich struggled to organize the medical departments that would be taken to Antarctica for both of the Deep Freeze I bases. With understanding of the Navy system, persistence, and, eventually, the presence of Dr. Edward Ehrlich and his officer status, he managed even to upgrade the medical supplies and equipment. Aldrich wintered over at Little America V, where he assisted the doctor in running the dispensary and providing a safe haven for men seeking counsel. Complaining of the obscene quantity of "medicinal" alcohol provided, he bartered it effectively for needed goods and services. National Science Foundation Antarctic Deep Freeze Association