Francy Powers Jr. - Spy Pilot - Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy

He was prepared for the worst, and so was his wife. When the trial turned into an anti-American show, but Dad was able to escape with his life, he began to second-guess himself in his journal:

I will never know whether or not I did right by giving any evidence at all. I would have been convicted anyway on the evidence that they had. I felt bad about telling them anything at all and I am very thankful that I knew very little if any of anything of a strategic nature. It seems to me the primary interest of the court was to point out to the world what had happened and to use it as much as possible to put the US in an embarrassing situation….

It seems to me that the prosecution did a good job of trying and convicting the United States and sentencing me because the US wasn’t available…. All I can say about the trial is that it was a very hard three days for me. I was very keyed up all during this time and had to ask the doctor for sleeping powder at night…. I was both pleased and disappointed with the verdict. I was pleased that it wasn’t the death penalty or a longer period of time. I was displeased for the number of years I received because it seemed fairly clear to me that the case was presented in such a way to make the US appear the guilty party and I was only a “tool.” …Well I can’t complain because I thought it would be the firing squad for me for sure…. 32

Without specifically addressing the matter of his controversial statement immediately before his sentencing, he wrote:

I was asked during the investigation if I would do the same thing again had I had it to do over again. I said yea I would if it were necessary for the defense of my country. In answer to a question of whether or not I thought it (my flight) was wrong, I replied that I did not consider it wrong if it was necessary for the defense of the United States, but that I did think it was wrong if it was done without the necessity of defending the U.S. I said I believed such flights as mine were not only right but necessary if it saved the destruction of the people of the US and their property. Any nation in my opinion could do such things for their protection and not commit a crime. If they are done in the name of necessity when it isn’t necessary then it is a different matter altogether and should be condemned.

I previously thought my flight was necessary at the time it was made. Now I don’t know what to think. Of course I only get news from a Communist source now, but if the USSR said that they would accept any control if only the West would accept disarmament then there is no excuse for the arms race continuing. If the US does not accept this then I will begin wondering what is going on. With disarmament there would be no need for such flights for no country would be a threat to another but if all nations continue to build bigger and better weapons then flights such as mine will become the accepted thing and the only crime will be to be caught…. 33

Especially after returning to the United States and seeing how the media had treated him, my father began to see himself as a scapegoat who was used to take the blame for a policy pursued by the political establishment.

Ruminating on his role in the failed summit, he said on the tapes:

I knew the incident was to blame but I didn’t consider myself to blame because I assumed that whoever gave word that the flight was to take place was the responsible party. They should have taken this into consideration. If they didn’t want this to happen or take the chance of this happening, then it was their responsibility to not take any chances. It was their fault, not mine. OK, I’m the instrument that caused it but I’m not responsible for… this Cold War business. I don’t pretend to be an intellectual… but when someone comes up and tells you you’ve disrupted possible peace in the world it can sort of get to you. 34

Facing a decade of confinement, Dad thought about escaping. The idea often occupied his dreams. So did suicide.

“Tried to think of ways to [escape],” he said on his tapes. “But it sure seemed like a hopeless situation. In fact, many times [I] got real despondent.” He continued:

Most people would have a little difficulty killing themselves. You can think about it: Boy, if this happened, I’d want to kill myself. But it’s a difficult decision to make when you come right down to it. And a good way to do it would be to escape and be shot. This would be one form of suicide. I don’t see how you could get far enough to be shot.

During the trial I thought about it because I thought maybe I had an opportunity to run and get shot. They let me outside the court building, right in downtown Moscow, setting on the bench. There was always the hope that the person would live but it wouldn’t have surprised me if they’d given me a death sentence…. 35

Internalizing his words, I tried to relate to his difficult circumstances. The stress of the trial, having faced the possibility of a death sentence, the lack of support from Barbara, and the uncertainty of how long he would be in prison certainly took a toll on him. Through his writing you could see when he was depressed and when he was hopeful. I rode that roller coaster with him. By reading and copying the letters, I had a sense that I was learning things though my father that I otherwise never would have learned. It was like he was helping me understand what he was going through. I found myself thinking what it would be like to be in his shoes. For me this was like my own type of therapy.

Once incarcerated at Lubyanka, Frank composed a letter to Barbara:

5 September 1960

My Dearest Wife,

It has been only a week since I saw you last but it seems so much longer. When I heard that you were gone I all at once felt all alone. I do not know the words to tell you what it meant to me to see you.

I have not been moved to another prison yet. I suppose it won’t be very long until I am moved. I would like to get it over with and get settled as much as I can under the circumstances.

I will enclose a list of the things you bought for me. I tried on all the clothes and they fit good. I have receipts for the money and the watch. All these things will be given to me when I leave here and get to the permanent prison.

So far my life has not changed much. I am still in the same cell but I have more time on my hands since there is no interrogation and preparation for a trial. I am glad all that is over. I hope I never have anything like that to go through again.

I am very depressed today. I don’t know why so today more than any other day but that is the way it is. Just the thoughts of spending ten years in prison is getting to me. I am sure it would be the same if it were only for five years or even one year. The way I feel now I would much rather have stayed with the airplane and died there than spend any time in a prison. I know it is hard for you to understand this but you have never faced ten years in prison.

You may say I won’t have to spend ten years in prison, that by behaving good I will get out sooner. That might knock off three years. Or you may think that there will be a pardon or some kind or exchange of prisoners, or that maybe something will happen through diplomatic channels to get me set free. I realize that maybe any of these things could happen but I cannot count on them. There is only one thing that is sure and that is my sentence is for ten years.

I doubt if I will ever be able to go to a zoo—that is if I ever get out of here—without having the desire to set all the animals free. I have never, before this, thought very much on the subject but I think all men and animals were born to be free. To take away one’s freedom is worse than to take one’s life, for death itself is a form of freedom.