|
Politics & Religion Discussion of politics and religion |
|
Share | Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
12-18-2011, 2:13pm | #1 | ||||||
Barn Stall Owner #0000
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Rockaway N.J
Posts: 3,481
Thanks: 1,805
Thanked 317 Times in 261 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $260381
|
Air Force to Award Silver Star to U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
Air Force to Award Silver Star to U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
Published December 18, 2011 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force will award a Silver Star posthumously to Francis Gary Powers, the pilot whose spy plane was shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union in a defining moment of the Cold War. The Air Force determined that the U-2 pilot showed "steadfast loyalty" while under harsh interrogation in Soviet prisons. In a report obtained by The Associated Press, it cited his "sustained courage" and gallantry despite "cajolery, trickery, insults and threats of death." The Silver Star is the Air Force's third-highest honor for service beyond the call of duty. Powers was swapped for a Soviet spy in February 1962 at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge. He died in the 1977 crash of a traffic helicopter he was flying in Los Angeles. His son, Francis Gary Powers Jr., requested that his father be considered for the medal. He said the Air Force confirmed this week that it plans to award it. "It is vindication of my father 50 years afterwards," he said. "Dad is one of our American heroes." In the aftermath of the downing, some people criticized Powers for not committing suicide using a toxin-tipped needle he was given before the flight. Powers said the CIA instructed pilots to surrender and to use of the poisoned pin only if they chose to while under torture. Pilots were permitted to tell the truth about their missions with the exception of certain specifications of their aircraft. "While he admitted he was spying, he did not reveal any vital information to the enemy," said Powers Jr., founder of the Cold War Museum in Vint Hill, Virginia. The decision to award the Silver Star comes just a few weeks before the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, on Dec. 25, 1991. Powers was not honored after his return in 1962 because of the "global political environment," the Air Force report said. The U-2 case was detailed in declassified data presented at a 1998 conference, and Powers was awarded a military POW medal and a CIA director's medal posthumously in 2000. The U-2 Soviet overflights were a joint CIA-Air Force program. Powers Jr. said he requested his father be considered for the higher military honor a few years ago, citing honors given other captured spy plane pilots. He said no date has been set for the award ceremony. Read more: Air Force To Award Silver Star To U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers | Fox News |
||||||
12-18-2011, 2:17pm | #2 | ||||||
A Real Barner
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: NorthernNY! (A little town on the shores of the Great Sacandaga Lake) in the peoples republic of NY
Posts: 10,319
Thanks: 5,516
Thanked 3,394 Times in 1,858 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $2115673
|
Wow a bit late!
I bet 80% on here will not even know the name.
__________________
. . . Due to all his bullshit I now nominate NY Governor Andy (Safe Act) Cuomo to be called Governor Moonbeam (EAST) |
||||||
12-18-2011, 3:05pm | #3 | ||||||
Vette Barn Crew
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: The Colony, Tx
Posts: 429
Thanks: 102
Thanked 191 Times in 98 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $4824404
|
If my memory still works there was a fat bald guy, a shoe and Neyet at the UN.
|
||||||
12-18-2011, 3:05pm | #4 | ||||||
Barn Stall Owner #1
Barn Raising I, II NCM Supporter '11, '12
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: VB Know-It-All
Posts: 10,757
Thanks: 1,812
Thanked 8,649 Times in 2,906 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $2299270
|
I wonder why it always seems to take the government 25+ years to figure out what the rest of us can in about 5 minutes.
|
||||||
|
|
Support the Barn: |
Download the Mobile App; |
Follow us on Facebook: |
||