Interview of William T. Hess by Dian O. Belanger

• Main Author: Hess, William T., 1922-2002
• Other Authors: Belanger, Dian Olson, 1941-
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program 2009
• Subjects: United States. Navy. Supply Corps > Interviews; Operation Deep Freeze; Oral history; Arctic regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Polar regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Antarctica > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Hess; William T.; 1922-2002 > Interviews; Antarctic; Arctic; Bowers; Little America; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/36719

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. Chief storekeeper Bill Hess had charge of supplies at McMurdo in Deep Freeze I. Organized and "fussy," he insisted on the orderly unloading and storage of cargo, including food and fuel, so that from the start he could locate every item in the supply dump. He ran the ship's store and, with the supply officer based at Little America, was also the agent cashier. Over the winter he organized the logistics of supplying Pole Station and worked with two Air Force sergeants to plan and pack materials for airdropping. In the summer, Deep Freeze II, he coordinated with Pole construction officer Bowers to keep supplies arriving in the order needed. Hess prided himself on motivating workers by outworking them. He died in 2002. National Science Foundation Antarctic Deep Freeze Association