Pilot Gary Powers is most known for being captured by the Soviet Union after being instructed to fly the U2 plane over the country and act as a spy for the US. On May 1, 1960, he was shot down by a missile, which resulted in the cancellation of the Paris Summit, an event that would discuss the division of Germany, weapon control and hopefully alleviate the animosity between the Soviet Union and the United States. Unfortunately, this only fostered more of a delayed relationship.
The US had been flying spy planes over the Soviet Union for quite some time, it was no secret that each other had spies but the real question was who were they? On the same day, May 1, 1960, Powers launched his plane from the Pakistan base and hoped to arrive in Norway, flying over the Soviet Union and obtaining information. What ended up occurring was in a rural mountainous city, Power's plane was shot by a Soviet missile, forcing him to parachute down and was immediately captured by the KGB. Powers recounted the struggle and panic he faced when hit and the shockwave that washed over him and his plane. He was interrogated and confessed but before this, America created a false story to cover up what they were doing. They claimed that Powers was doing a weather flight but a malfunction occurred with oxygen delivery, causing him to black out and go off course to the Soviet Union. Khrushchev confronted and disproved these claims by showing that they had Powers as a hostage and his confession. Powers helped prove to the Soviets of the flights that were occurring over them, while they had suspected it all along; they lacked any evidence to accuse the US of betrayal. Now they could.
During 1995, both America and the Soviets were concerned with one another's weaponry, especially with the development of nuclear weapons. They wanted to stay in the loop with what one another was doing via spies and such plane exhibitions. In 1955, during a meeting with Eisenhower and Khrushchev, Eisenhower proposed the "Open Skies" policy to which eh Soviet leader fused, claiming of the vast power of Soviet missiles which only led to the fear that he had verified the Soviet's nuclear program. The famous U2 planes grew out of fear because of this, the planes could fly at a height of 70,000 feet, high enough to supposed be undetected by radars but low enough to track what was occurring below (we learned that the Soviets had been tracking Powers all along though).
After the crash, Power's plane was put on display to be showcased as American deceit. Powers was tried and convicted of being a spy. He was sentenced to three years in prison with an additional seven years of hard labor. Luckily in February of 1962, he and a detained American student were traded for a Soviet Spy, Rudolf Abel.
Powers was Korean war veteran and a young pilot. After arriving back in the US, powers discovered that he was extremely unpopular with editorials from both the America and British press written about him saying that he had defected and confessed everything to the Soviet Union. The media of Powers was mixed with truth and lies, creating a wildly unpopular image for him. Because of this, it was difficult for him to hold down jobs (for example, he was fired from a job as a test pilot for a manufacturer because he was disliked). The government felt some sympathy so in 1962, they gave Powers an opportunity to mend his reputation, publically exonerated him and awarded him 50,000 dollars for his troubles in Russia. The CIA published a report stating that Powers had acted "honorably". Powers died in 1977 during a helicopter crash he was flying after he was returning from covering brush fires in Santa Barbara. He is now buried in the prestigious Arlington National Cemetery.
Powers left a shining legacy but not a certain cost. He faced truths and lies due to his capture but still shows the distrust and unrest the nations had.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spies-swapped
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pilot-francis-gary-powers-charged-with-espionage
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/u2-incident
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35064221
Obviously, being a spy is not a job for everyone. However, it is definitely interesting at the public's reaction towards Powers' confession to the KGB about the American spying flights. I think that in many ways, Powers was merely a victim of the both unethical and extremely competitive conflicts between the Soviet Union and America. Additionally, Powers had not lost his courage as many in the public believed; he had tried to activate the plane's self destruct mechanism, which failed. Because of this, the Russians saw the insides of the plane, which would have revealed his occupation even if Powers had said nothing. while at the time Powers was disliked by many Americans, 23 years after his death he was formally awarded military honours.
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