Spy Pilot
MOUND MUSEUM LECTURE SERIES SPOTLIGHTS
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, 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. Almost sixty years after the event, this will be the definitive account of a famous Cold War incident, one proving that Francis Gary Powers acted honorably through a trying ordeal in service to his country.
Speaker
GARY POWERS, JR. lectures internationally and appears regularly on C-SPAN, the History, Discovery, and A&E channels. He is the author of Enemy Territory (2022), Letters from a Soviet Prison (2017), and Spy Pilot (2019) which all help to dispel the misinformation surrounding the U-2 Incident. Gary is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of The Cold War Museum in Vint Hill, VA. As Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Cold War Theme Study he worked with the National Park Service and leading Cold War experts to identify historic Cold War sites for preservation.
Gary is a past Board Member of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace and an Honorary Board Member of the International Spy Museum. He holds a BA in Philosophy, and Master’s Degrees in Public Administration and US History. He is married and has one son.
For additional details call 937-353-4457. The presentation is free and open to the public and has ample free parking.
Mound Cold War Discovery Center
E-Mail: msem475@gmail.com
Phone: 937-247-0402
Web: www.daytonhistory.org
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