Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers Capt. USAF; was an
American pilot whose
U-2 spy plane was shot down while over the
Soviet Union, thus causing the
U-2 Crisis of 1960.
He was born in Burdine, Kentucky and was raised in
Pound, Virginia, on the
Virginia-
Kentucky border. After graduating from
Milligan College in Eastern
Tennessee, Gary enlisted in the
USAF in 1950. Upon completing his training he was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base,
Georgia as an
F-84 Thunderjet pilot.
Encyclopedia
Francis Gary Powers Capt. USAF; was an
American pilot whose
U-2 spy plane was shot down while over the
Soviet Union, thus causing the
U-2 Crisis of 1960.
He was born in Burdine, Kentucky and was raised in
Pound, Virginia, on the
Virginia-
Kentucky border. After graduating from
Milligan College in Eastern
Tennessee, Gary enlisted in the
USAF in 1950. Upon completing his training he was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base,
Georgia as an
F-84 Thunderjet pilot. He was assigned to operations in the
Korean War, but was recruited by the
CIA because of his outstanding record in single engine
jet aircraft, soon after recovering from an illness. He left the Air Force with the rank of captain in 1956, to join the CIA
U-2 program.
U-2 pilots carried out espionage missions over hostile countries including the
Soviet Union, systematically photographing military installations and other important intelligence targets. Powers' U-2, which was stationed at
Incirlik Air Base,
Turkey, was shot down by a
surface-to-air missile on May 1 1960 over
Sverdlovsk; he was convicted of espionage against the Soviet Union and sentenced to three years imprisonment and seven years of hard labor. However, on February 10 1962, twenty-one months after his capture, he was exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a spy swap for Soviet
KGB Colonel
Vilyam Fisher at the
Glienicke bridge in
Potsdam,
Germany.
On his return to the U.S., Powers was criticized for having failed to activate his aircraft's self-destruct charge to destroy the
camera,
photographic film, and related
classified parts of his aircraft before capture. In addition, others criticized him for deciding not to use an optional CIA-issued
suicide pin. This pin, which was concealed in a hollowed out silver dollar, could be used to avoid pain and suffering in case of
torture. After being debriefed extensively by the CIA, Lockheed, and the USAF, on March 6 1962 he appeared before a Senate Armed Services Select Committee hearing chaired by Senator
Richard Russell and including Senators
Prescott Bush and
Barry Goldwater, Sr. During the proceeding it was determined that Powers followed orders, did not divulge any critical information to the Soviets, and conducted himself "as a fine young man under dangerous circumstances."
After his return, Powers worked for
Lockheed as a test pilot from 1963 to 1970. In 1970, he co-wrote a book about the Incident, called
Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident. He died in a
helicopter crash in
Los Angeles on August 1, 1977, while working as a helicopter reporter for television station KNBC. The crash of his helicopter was apparently caused by a malfunctioning
fuel gauge which had been repaired without his knowledge. Survived by his wife Sue, and two children Dee and Francis Gary Jr., he was buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1998, information was declassified revealing that Powers' fateful mission had actually been a joint USAF/CIA operation. In 2000, on the 40th anniversary of Powers being shot down, his family was finally presented with his posthumously awarded
Prisoner of War Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross and
National Defense Service Medal.
When asked how high he was flying on May 1, 1960, he would often reply, "not high enough."
External links
Cultural references
Francis Gary Powers was mentioned several times in the 1991 film
Final Approach starring James Sikking and
Hector Elizondo .
Francis Gary Powers was portrayed by
Lee Majors in a 1976 movie,
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident that dramatized the incident of 1960.
Francis Gary Powers was the subject of the song "Ballad Of Francis Powers " recorded by Red River Dave in 1960.
