EAA Chapter 25 Banquet Will Feature Gary Powers Jr. As Speaker

Gary Powers Jr., the son of famed Cold War pilot Francis Gary Powers, will give a special presentation at this October's EAA Chapter 25 Banquet in Lakeville.

Powers will provide a unique historical perspective on the dramatic shooting down of his father's U-2 spy plane, over Russia, in 1960.

The Oct. 3 presentation will follow a social hour and buffet dinner at the Crystal Lake Golf and Banquet Facility, 16725 Innsbrook Drive. Seating is limited. A social hour starts at 5:30 p.m. with a cash bar and dinner at 6:30 pm.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at http://www.brownpapetickets.com. Enter "EAA" in the "Find an Event" search box at the top of the web page.

A $2.99 service fee will be applied to all ticket purchases.

The banquet is sponsored by EAA Chapter 25, but all aviators and non-aviators are welcome.

Gary Powers Jr. is the founder and chairman emeritus of The Cold War Museum, a 501(c) (3) charity located at Vint Hill, Virginia, 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C.

He founded the museum in 1996 to honor Cold War veterans, preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations about this time period.

Powers' book about his father is entitled "Spy Pilot, Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy."

The incident occurred May 1, 1960, when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down by Soviet Air Defense Forces while performing photographic aerial reconnaissance.

Initially, U.S. authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraft operated by NASA, but were forced to admit the mission's true purpose days later.

The U2 Incident caused great international embarrassment to the United States and prompted the dissolution of the planned Paris Summit.

During his hour presentation, Powers will discuss the Cold War, U-2 Incident, the controversy that surrounded his father, what the family has done to set the record straight, and the Steven Spielberg's 2015 movie "Bridge of Spies" that portrays his father's exchange for Soviet spy Rudolph Abel in 1962.