DO YOU REMEMBER?

Replica of the curare-concealing medallion given to all U-2 pilots

A Spy's Ill-Fated Flight From Pakistan


Oak Ridge, Tenn.-Thanks to data transmitted by satellites in space and sent to our home computers via Google Maps, we all can play spy, zooming in on our neighbors' rooftops or on locations halfway around the world with just a few mouse-clicks. It's easy to forget that for most of human existence, the gathering and dissemination of intelligence was a slow, risky enterprise that took place a lot closer to the ground. (click below to read more)


The situation started to change in the mid-1950s with the U-2, the first spy plane that could fly above 70,000 feet and, theoretically, out of the range of Soviet air defenses. But that theory was disproved on May 1, 1960, when American pilot Francis Gary Powers (1929-1977) was shot down over Russia, resulting in one of the great embarrassments of the Cold War. This story, and the details of the U-2's incredible capabilities, are the subject of "Cold War Crisis: The U2 Incident," a small but informative exhibit at the American Museum of Science and Energy here.
Not only could the U-2 fly high, but it was equipped with high-resolution cameras that could produce an image from 60,000 feet that looked like it was taken just 2½ feet away. Unfortunately, the U-2 was also difficult to fly. At 70,000 feet, its stall speed was only 10 knots below its maximum speed. At lower altitudes, it was very hard to maneuver. Because of the U-2's tendency to drift when landing, the Air Force used high-speed chase cars—Ford Mustangs and Pontiac GTOs—to guide the U-2 pilot down. Because the aircraft flew so high, pilots wore space suits and had to begin breathing pure oxygen an hour before the flight to remove nitrogen from their systems.
The first U-2 flight over the Soviet Union took place on July 4, 1956. By May 1960 the Air Force had 10 U-2 aircraft that planners and budgeters "hid" in the service's weather command. Powers, who left the Air Force in 1956 with the rank of captain and joined the CIA, was flying out of Peshawar, Pakistan, and was America's most experienced U-2 pilot.
The flight was scheduled because President Dwight D. Eisenhower was to meet with the Soviets, British and French in Paris to discuss arms control. The U.S. suspected the Soviets of lying about missile numbers and capabilities. Powers's nine-hour flight was to take him over the Soviet missile facilities at Plesetsk and Sverdlovsk; he was supposed to land in Bodo, Norway.
Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missiles detonated near the U-2's tail section. Because of the force of the blast, Powers was trapped under the instrument panel and knew that if he used his ejector seat he would sever his legs. The aircraft fell nine miles before Powers was able to extricate himself, pop the canopy, and jump out at 15,000 feet. He landed safely on a Soviet collective farm.
The U.S. initially claimed it had lost a weather observation plane that had drifted into Soviet airspace. The Russians played the scenario masterfully, first claiming to know nothing about it. After the U.S. denied that the incident had anything to do with espionage, the Soviets produced Powers and wreckage from the plane. Powers was tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served 21 months before he was traded for Col. Rudolf Abel, a Russian spy who had been arrested in New York in 1957.
All of this is told well here through artifacts, newsreels, press clippings and memorabilia on loan from the National Electronics Museum and the Powers family. One of the most interesting items is a Western Union telegram from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to Powers's father, which reads in part, "If you wish to come to the Soviet Union to see your son, I am ready to help you." Touching from the man who a few years earlier had told a group of Western diplomats, "We will bury you."

Also on display is a replica of the silver-dollar medallion all U-2 pilots were given. It contained a secret compartment with a needle and enough curare to kill a captured pilot instantly. Powers obviously chose not to use it. He was held in the KGB's notorious Lubyanka Prison and worked over for three months before his trial, but apparently gave the Soviets little information. Among the memorabilia here is a handwritten note from Sen. Barry Goldwater, who took part in the March 1962 Senate Armed Services Committee hearings after Powers was released. He wrote: "You did a good job for your country."
For that job Powers earned the National Defense Medal, the POW Medal and the CIA Director's Medal, the last for "extraordinary fidelity and essential service."
Powers continued to work for the CIA and then became a Lockheed test pilot. In August 1977, while flying a KNBC news helicopter over Los Angeles, Powers ran out of gas, crashed in a ball field in Encino, and was killed. He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The U-2, one of which was also shot down over Cuba in October 1962, lives on. In March, a U-2 stationed in Cyprus helped enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. Another, from Osan Air Base in South Korea, flew over Japan to assess damage from the earthquake and tsunami.
There's been recent talk of retiring the fleet of 32 U-2s. But the Obama administration recently requested $91 million to keep them flying through 2015. As this exhibit makes clear, it's one budget item even the Tea Partiers should support