Talk:Gary Powers

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It seems to me that the bulk of this article belongs as a separate article under the "U2 crisis", which is certainly much more significant and well-known than Gary Powers. Unless someone can convince me otherwise I'll move all but the first paragraph to that title soon. -R. fiend

OK, just noticed there already is an article called U-2 Crisis of 1960, which seems like an unecessarily verbose and hard to find heading. That article is not as complete as this one, and is practically an orphan. I'll move most of this article there and add a bunch of redirects and links to make it easier to find, if no one objects, or beats me to it. -R. fiend

Well, I object. (Not particularly strongly). As it stands, it should probably be considered a stub (surely we can fill more than 8 sentences on a person involved in such a notorious incident!), but it is meant to be a bio about the man involved in the incident; just one sentence of the eight refers to the U2 incident. The article U-2 Crisis of 1960 focusses, obviously enough, on the historical event, and does not include detailed biographical information (which is quite appropriate, IMHO). Also I am not sure what you meant by "That article is not as complete as this one", in fact it is much longer. While the main title of that article is probably somewhat prolix it is reached by redirects from U-2 Crisis, U-2 incident and U2 Crisis, and far from being nearly an orphan, has nine inward links (including the redirects). I say leave it be (apart from adding more stuff on Powers). Securiger 08:37, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Oh, I see Patrick has already removed a lot of stuff to the crisis article. But I think probably too much; the already short and stub-like article now has far too little about the major incident in Powers' life, and the last sentence about 1960 is difficult to understand because it has been stripped of its context. I'm copying some back (not removing from the other article). I don't see any problem with the minor duplication, so long as both articles make sense. Securiger 08:50, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I don't like the reference to Lee Harvey Oswald as "the man reported to have shot" JFK. Whether the conspiracy theorists like it or not, Oswald is the official and only known gunman. Whether or not the evidence against Oswald would have convicted him in a court of law is not material here. The point is that all theories, speculation and downright irresponsible allegations have still not produced overwhelming evidence to discredit the official finding of Lee Harvey Oswald as the one man who definitely shot President Kennedy. --[USER: leonwatch]

Ok, it looks like alot of major work has been done on both articles, and while I haven't read them carefully yet, I think I'm pretty satisfied. You're right, there was alot of biographical information that belonged just in this article, and it should stay here. My original complaint was that it seemed there wasnt an article on the crisis at all, or at least I couldn't find one until I noticed the link at the bottom. There I found a short paragraph with almost nothing linking to it, so I made a bunch of links and redirects and I guess someone added substantially to the content. I actually didn't want to have to do it because I'm no expert. Glad it was addressed so quickly. -R. fiend

Contents 1 Photo? 2 Why "Gary"? 3 Pound, VA vs. Jenkins, KY 4 Lee Harvey Oswald 5 Death 6 For lack of a better place to suggest this...

[edit] Photo?

We should probably have a photo of Gary here, rather than a picture of a U2 model. Anyone have one? Djbrianuk 10:23, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I found one on the National Air and Space Museum website. Willy Logan 02:36, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Why "Gary"?

Does anybody know why people have always referred to him as Gary Powers? According to people who knew him, he was always called Frank, both within his family and within the piloting community.

I heard that one too - he apparently didn't like "Gary" and preferred "Frank".

[edit] Pound, VA vs. Jenkins, KY

I think there is a mistake. Gary Powers was born in Jenkins, KY and grew up in Pound, VA. There is lots of evidence of this upon even cursory search, including the CIA Bio document, that clearly lists Jenkins, KY as his birthplace. I'll change the article accordingly. --Mr. Icon 02:43, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Lee Harvey Oswald

There is no evidence of his involvement in U-2 spy missions, plus the addition in the article was factually incorrect (Korea vs. Japan). I have removed any references to Lee Harvey Oswald completely, since they didn't seem to warrant a "reference needed" tag.

[edit] Death

The crash of his helicopter was apparently caused by a malfunctioning fuel gauge which had been repaired without his knowledge. This is rather delphic. What was the relationship between the gauge being repaired and the helicopter crashing? Henry^Flower 20:06, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

• I agree with Henry. If the fuel gauge had been "repaired", then why did it malfunction? Did the writer of these mean a "faulty" fuel gauge or perhaps even a fuel gauge which had been "improperly repaired without Powers' knowledge"? Wolfdog 01:17, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I guess the text meant "modified" without his knowledge, or just modified for the worse. Tourskin 00:51, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] For lack of a better place to suggest this...

Might be worth a reference here or under the U2 crisis page: [1]

The U-2 Song by Howard Shapiro (a Harvard student at the time)

(Only the 4th line of the chorus varies)

Have you heard of a plane called the Lockheed U-2 Flown o'er flags of all red, and not red, white, and blue? She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free And gave the other side a propaganda victory.

CHORUS: Oh, it just can't be true, no, it just can't be true -- Can we have a spy on that Lockheed U-2? It just can't be true, no, it just can't be true -- If they do it, we might as well do it too.

It was over Sverdlovsk on the first day of May, With the summit in Paris a few weeks away. U-2 flew and she fell, and she fell to the ground -- Pictures, pilot, and paraphernalia were found.

CHORUS... ...We're caught with the goods; now what are we to do?

Ike was there in the dark, and he said that the flight Might be legally wrong, but was morally right. First the rocket's red glare, then the red leader's roar Brought the U-2 to that hot Senate floor.

CHORUS... ...But Ike lost a friend thru that Lockheed U-2.

Soon our Midas's camera will soar to the heights, And we'll do without Lockheed U-2s and their flights. When the satellite's up, there'll be no need to spy: There's an eye in the sky in the sweet bye and bye.

CHORUS... ...But Ike lost a friend thru that Lockheed U-2.

So the summit was torpedoed like the good Reuben James, While heads of state sulked and called each other names. What of Francis G. Powers, the man at the hub? He's now camera instructor at the Moscow Glider Club.

CHORUS... ...If we do it, they might as well do it too.

They gave Powers ten years in the Soviet court. We said it was too long, they said it was too short. Nathan Hale might regret he'd but one life to give -- Said Powers, "I'm sorry, I just wanna live".

CHORUS... ...So they sent him to jail, and they sent up the zoo.

mr_Handy 08:52, 31 December 2006 (UTC)