'Spy Pilot: Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy'

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. Using newly available information, Francis Gary Powers Jr. will present facts and dispel misinformation about the incident and the espionage program that turned his father into a Cold War icon.

Powers was captured by the KGB, subjected to a televised show trial and imprisoned, all of which created an international incident. The event recently was depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie "Bridge of Spies." 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, due to bad press and the government's unwillingness to heartily defend Powers, a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977.

Now his son, Francis Gary Powers Jr. and acclaimed historian Keith Dunnavant have written "Spy Pilot: Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy," a new account of Powers' life based on personal files that had never been previously available. Delving into old audio tapes, letters his father wrote and received while imprisoned in the Soviet Union, the transcript of his father's debriefing by the CIA, other recently declassified documents about the U-2 program, and interviews with the spy pilot's contemporaries, Powers and Dunnavant set the record straight. The result is a fascinating piece of Cold War history.

The live Zoom webinar will take place March 16 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. PDT. Admission is free. Registration is required. The webinar link will be provided prior to the event.

For questions about the program, contact Michaela Reaves at reaves@callutheran.edu or David Nelson, dnelson@CalLutheran.edu.

Register

Register by March 16, 6 p.m. PDT