SPY PILOT:
FRANCIS GARY POWERS, THE U-2 INCIDENT, AND A CONTROVERSIAL COLD WAR LEGACY
FRANCIS GARY POWERS JR, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, THE COLD WAR MUSEUM
Event Abstract
One of the most talked-about events of the Cold War was the downing of the American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The event was recently depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies. Powers was captured by the KGB, subjected to a televised show trial, and imprisoned, all of which created an international incident. Soviet authorities eventually released him in exchange for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. On his return to the United States, Powers was exonerated of any wrongdoing while imprisoned in Russia, yet a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977.
Now his son, Francis Gary Powers Jr., has written this new account of his father's life based on personal files that have never been previously available. Delving into old audio tapes, the transcript of his father's debriefing by the CIA, other recently declassified documents about the U-2 program, and interviews with his contemporaries, Powers sets the record straight. The result is a fascinating piece of Cold War history.
Gary has lectured on the Cold War, his father, the U-2 Incident, espionage, and the need to honour Cold War veterans, preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations about this time period for over 30 years. His recent book, Spy Pilot: Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy, helps to set the record straight in regards to the fake news that surrounds the U-2 Incident and tarnished his father’s reputation. It gives an overview of what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a famous Cold War figure, his search for the truth after his father’s death in 1977 when he was 12 years old, and how his research led to the USAF and CIA posthumously awarding his father the POW Medal / CIA Director’s Medal, and Silver Star in 2000 and 2012 respectively. During the talk, he will also discuss related books and Spielberg’s 2015 Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies, on which he was a technical consultant, that depicts his father’s exchange for Soviet spy Rudolph Able in 1962. Questions and a book signing will follow.
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