By AMBER PATINO
Washington County native John “JD” Hasty celebrated his 95th birthday Thursday, October 2, surrounded by friends and family at the Woman’s Club in Chipley. While this milestone was of note for Hasty, it harkened back to another birthday he celebrated decades earlier while on a mission that led to him making history as the first person to raise the Florida state flag at the South Pole.
A member of the Vernon High School Class of 1949, Hasty enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after graduation and served nine years on active duty, followed by 29 years in the reserves. His career in communications took him across the globe, but arguably one of his most remarkable journeys began in Rhode Island, where he boarded a Navy vessel bound for Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze III.
Operation Deep Freeze III was the third installment of a U.S. Navy mission supporting the International Geophysical Year (IGY), a global scientific initiative that ran from July 1957 to December 1958. Sixty-seven countries participated in IGY, conducting coordinated research in fields such as glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, and seismology. The U.S. contribution included building permanent research stations in Antarctica, including the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, where Hasty was deployed.
Hasty’s journey began with a ship from Rhode Island to McMurdo Sound, a coastal Antarctic hub. From there, he boarded an aircraft for the 900-mile flight inland to the South Pole Station. He was part of the second group ever stationed there, likening the trip to being “pioneers of a sort.”
Before departing, then-Florida Governor LeRoy Collins presented Hasty with a signed Florida state flag. After raising it at the South Pole, Hasty sent the governor a message sent via amateur radio operators (known as ham radio operators), to confirm the flag had been raised.
He turned 28 while stationed at the South Pole, and his crewmates celebrated with a homemade cake. Among the memorable moments, Hasty recalls meeting Sir Edmund Hillary, the famed mountaineer who was the first to summit Mount Everest and also involved in Antarctic exploration during the IGY.
Hasty described conditions at the station as being harsh and primitive, with the lowest temperature during his stay reaching -100.3 °F.
“We had to shovel snow manually,” Hasty said. “Everybody, from the officers down, had to pitch in. Everybody took turns washing dishes as well.”
The crew included eight military and ten civilian scientists, and one sled dog named Blizzard, who was accidentally left behind during a previous airlift and became a beloved member of the team. To pass the time, the men played cards, watched movies, and tried to make contact with ham radio operators back in the mainland.
After returning from Antarctica, Hasty continued his service in the Navy Reserves and worked for the U.S. Post Office in Providence, Rhode Island. He retired in 1986 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He married Mary Picano in 1960, and the couple shared nearly 52 years together before her passing in 2012. Hasty returned to Chipley in 2013 and remains close with his extended family.
When asked what advice he has for younger generations, Hasty offered simple wisdom: “Get up every morning, do what you gotta do, and go from there.”
The Florida flag that Hasty raised at the South Pole is still on display in Washington County, located at the Washington County Historical Society museum at 685 7th Street, Chipley.
From his local roots to his history-making trip to the Antarctic, Hasty has built a legacy that is still remembered 67 years later.
Ali Moreland