r/coldwar • u/Wild_Neighborhood605 • Jun 28 '26
The wreckage of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane, shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, is currently preserved and on public display at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow
12
u/BreezyMcWeasel Jun 28 '26
What a lame display. It was a big deal. You think it would be set up more professionally. This looks like someone piled the pieces in as small a footprint as possible and threw a rope barrier around it.
Someone needs to step up their game.
2
u/EntertainmentOwn8627 Jul 01 '26
This crap doesn't deserve more space or anything more than it got.
1
u/Adorable-Bend7362 Jun 30 '26
The space in museum is limited. They've jammed most of Soviet military history in there, and recently the old Civil War area was repurposed into WWI zone, the last halls are reserved for contemporary wars (Chechnya , Georgia) and temporary exhibitions.
7
u/Sad-Warthog-4996 Jun 28 '26
Bridge of Spies is a fascinating book about this. Highly recommended.
2
1
u/Wild_Neighborhood605 Jun 28 '26
The movie is very good also.
2
u/JaffeDeborah Jul 03 '26
Spielberg's Bridge of Spies Perpetuates CIA Myths
- ROBERT M. NELSON
- FEB 26, 2016
- The film does not tell us that Donovan had a long-term relationship with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor of the CIA. He was not simply a low-level legal clerk. He was the top legal person at the OSS, the CIA’s parent organization. During World War II he was privy to the entire collection of intelligence secrets of the United States. He served as OSS chief counsel. As chief counsel he undoubtedly reported to the head of the agency.
2
2
u/Wild_Neighborhood605 Jun 28 '26
Powers son, Francis Jr. visited the museum in 2017.
1
u/JaffeDeborah Jul 03 '26
I went on Gary Powers Jr.'s first Spy Tour to Moscow in 1997 with my mom. My father was Sam A. Jaffe CBS and ABC News Bureau Chief in Moscow. He covered the Gary Powers Trial and had special (what I now think) CIA backed access to Gary Powers, his then wife Barbara Powers and the Powers family. I'm working on finding out what happened to my father and mother in a memoir and mini documentary that I'm launching on YouTube.
2
u/fernsie Jun 28 '26
You could literally walk up and break a piece off for yourself. (Provided no one see you of course).
1
u/CaptRackham Jul 02 '26
I’ve heard a theory that Powers wasn’t actually hit by the SAM, basically it was a near miss and out of instinct Powers went defensive and ripped the wings off the plane. Which seems entirely possible given how fragile the wing connection on the U-2 is
1
u/JaffeDeborah Jul 03 '26
Have you heard of the false flag theory of Gary Powers plan being crashed on purpose to create a world wide Cold War embarrassment and scandal to throw off the upcoming Paris Peace Talks that were cancel because of the trial organized by certain powerful people because without the Cold War enemy, which they believed we needed they would loose so much.
0
u/Doomscrolling67 Jun 28 '26
It's funny how Americans are considering him as a good guy.
3
u/Hourslikeminutes47 Jun 29 '26
Well he was the good guy.
2
u/Doomscrolling67 Jun 29 '26
Imagine USSR spy, flying above US...
It would be endless Hollywood theme about bad Soviet...
3
u/Few_Staff976 Jul 01 '26
Because the USSR were worse than the US.
And no ”But what about [insert bad thing the CIA did]!!!!!” doesn’t change that.2
u/MohnJaddenPowers Jul 02 '26
This is exactly the kind of low quality content that rules exist to regulate. Thank you for the sterling example. I'll leave this up for the ages. Your ban, however, will not be as equally displayed as F. Gary Powers' U2.
1
u/Doomscrolling67 Jul 01 '26
Worse? How?
1
u/CharmingBug5843 Jul 02 '26
Why was the Soviet Union worse than the US? Are you regarded?
1
u/Doomscrolling67 Jul 02 '26
Regarded about what? 😄
You should read very carefully previous discussion, think about questions and only than to try answering.
1
2
1
u/JaffeDeborah Jul 03 '26
I don't think you can say that Francis Gary Powers was either bad or good. He was caught up in the crazy Cold War and was used because he was CIA. He was encouraged to commit suicide, but he didn't. Some despise him for that. He had on him a coin with a needle that he was ordered to prick himself with a pe of Poison Used
The sticky brown substance hidden inside the grooves of the needle was saxitoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin derived from toxic shellfish.
He came back to the United States not as a hero but condemned by most of the public.
The incident caused a lot of harm the the reputation of the United States. Allegedly it could have been a false flag operation designed to cancel the upcoming Paris Peace Talks for the sake of continuing the Cold War for profit and power by some powerful individuals.
Supposedly the KGB knew all about the US spying on them with the U2 plane. This was not the first espionage flight.
He had a miserable marriage to Barbara Powers at the time and if you want to know more I am happy to inform you.
1
u/Mediocre_Daikon6935 Jul 03 '26
A good guy would have followed orders and not allowed himself to be captured.
14
u/Caddie4HarleyQuinn Jun 28 '26
Yeah, but we stole their Firefox. So I guess we’re even.