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N0KFQ > TODAY 08.07.14 16:00l 65 Lines 2999 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 25682_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 8
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DB0ANF<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<VK4TUB<N0KFQ
Sent: 140708/1500Z 25682@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Jul 8, 1960:
Pilot Francis Gary Powers charged with espionage
Shot down just two months before while flying a secret mission
over Moscow, CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers is charged with
espionage by the Soviet Union on July 8, 1960. Although he would
not be found guilty until August 17 of the same year, Powers'
indictment signaled a massive setback in the peace process
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
By 1960, the 31-year-old Powers was already a veteran of several
covert aerial reconnaissance missions. The CIA recruited him in
1956 to fly the Lockheed U-2, a spy plane that could reach
altitudes of 80,000 feet, essentially making it invulnerable to
Soviet anti-aircraft weapons. The U-2 was equipped with a
state-of-the-art camera designed to snap high-resolution photos
from the edge of the atmosphere.
The Soviets had been well aware of U-2 missions since 1956, but
did not have the technology to launch counter-measures until
1960. On what turned out to be Powers' last flight for the CIA on
May 1, the Soviets shadowed his U-2 at a lower altitude, then
took him down as he crossed over Sverdlosk, deep in enemy
territory. To make matters worse, Powers was unable to activate
the plane's self-destruct mechanism, as instructed, before he
parachuted safely to the ground, right into the hands of the KGB.
When the U.S. government learned of Powers' disappearance over
the Soviet Union, it issued a cover statement claiming that a
"weather plane" had crashed down after its pilot had
"difficulties with his oxygen equipment." What U.S. President
Dwight Eisenhower did not realize was that the plane landed
almost fully intact, and the Soviets recovered its photography
equipment, as well as Powers, whom they interrogated extensively
for months before he made a "voluntary confession" and public
apology for his part in U.S. espionage.
The timing couldn't have been worse for the United States. A
major summit--with the theme of detente and progress toward
peace--between the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain
and France was to begin that month. Instead, Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev launched into a tirade against the United
States, openly accusing the Americans of being "militarist" and
"unable to call a halt to their war effort." Khrushchev then
stormed out, effectively ending the conference and setting back
the peace process a considerable number of years.
On August 17, 1960, Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison,
but was released after two, in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf
Abel. Though Powers claimed he had not divulged details of the
U-2 program, he received a cold reception upon his return to the
United States. Not until May 1, 2000, the 40th anniversary of the
U-2 incident and 23 years after Powers' death in a helicopter
crash, did the United States award him the medals of distinction
he was denied during his lifetime.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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