Early Years
The son of a country doctor, Balchen was born at the farm Myren in Tveit, just outside of Kristiansand, Norway. Gaining a degree in forestry engineering at the Forestry School, Moseby, Norway in 1916, he enrolled in the French Foreign Legion then transferred to the Norwegian Army where he was sent to an artillery school but he graduated too late to see action in World War I.
Under an assumed name, Balchen fought as a cavalryman with the White Guards in the Finnish Civil War that followed the end of major hostilities. During a cavalry charge, his horse was shot from under him and he was left for dead on the battlefield.
Receiving serious wounds that necessitated a lengthy convalescence, Balchen turned to an early interest in athletics and trained strenuously as a boxer to represent Norway in the 1920 Olympics. Besides being a championship boxer, he was also an expert marksman and an accomplished skier. Balchen was very knowledgeable about wilderness and northern survival, skills that he would later exploit.
While waiting for his acceptance as an Olympian, Balchen received word that he also qualified for flight training, resulting in his decision to become a pilot in the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service in 1921.
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Famous quotes related to early years:
“If there is a price to pay for the privilege of spending the early years of child rearing in the driver’s seat, it is our reluctance, our inability, to tolerate being demoted to the backseat. Spurred by our success in programming our children during the preschool years, we may find it difficult to forgo in later states the level of control that once afforded us so much satisfaction.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)