Francis "Frank" Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) 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 Jenkins, Kentucky and was raised in Pound, Virginia, on the Virginia-Kentucky border. After graduating from Milligan College in Eastern Tennessee, Gary was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1950. Upon completing his training (52-H) 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 (according to his son) 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 Badaber Air Base, near Peshawar in Pakistan, 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 (aka Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, 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."