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American Pilot Honored Posthumously

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  • Description

    Failed 1960 spy mission over Soviet Union

  • Duration 1:53
  • Date

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-- -- There's a little known fact about the Gary powers' U2 spy plane incidents.

His plane took off from a CIA -- secret CIA base inside Pakistan not far from the shower.

It's discovery at that time created all sorts of problems with the Pakistani leadership.

-- who actually shut down the base after it crashed.

That was fifty years ago it was the height of the Cold War Gary Powers left the air force and begin flying these secret missions for the CIA.

The U2 spy planes were launched from Pakistan -- the CIA could keep an night.

On the Soviet union's ballistic missile sites in Central Asia their nuclear test that test sites to measure how much radioactive material was being produced.

Sounds a lot like today's controversial secret drone program being flown until recently from a secret.

CIA base in Pakistan the U2 flew at 70000 feet mostly out of range of the anti aircraft missiles.

At the time that Gary Powers ejected from the -- after being fired on by Russian SA two missiles.

And after several Soviet fighter planes tried to ram the state of the art spy craft.

Powers was criticized for not hitting the self destruct button on the -- and for allowing himself to be captured alive.

He was returned to the US in a prisoner exchange with the KGB in 1962.

Today he was honored here at the Pentagon with the silver star.

The power -- Deeply grateful and deeply appreciative.

For the awarding of the -- start of my father.

It goes to show that it's never too late to set the record straight.

His son Gary Powers junior was here at the Pentagon with other family members to receive.

The met the silver star.

In an incident that literally could have happened just yesterday.

And just just before Father's Day to how appropriate that when an interesting story Jennifer thank you.

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