Francis Gary Powers' son wants a Cold War Museum

Charles Batchelor/Chesterfield Observer Frances Gary Powers, Jr., has moved to Midlothian and seeking local support for his Cold War Museum project in Fairfax. A Spies of Washington Tour to help bring awareness to his project is planned for Saturday, March 25. It will feature espionage sites in Arlington, Washington and Georgetown.

"I used to give some talks at the high schools on the Cold War and discovered that teenagers today think U-2 is a rock band," said Francis Gary Powers, Jr.

Seeing the Cold War's quiet terror "mutually assure destruction" by nuclear war becoming a forgotten part of history, Powers found the incentive to put together a exhibit on the U-2 incident that made his father famous. This effort has grown into the creation of the Cold War Museum.

His father, Francis Gary Powers, was shot down over Sverdlovsk, USSR in 1960 when he was conducting high-altitude surveillance for the CIA in the super-secret U-2 spy plane, creating a story followed by millions around the world for over two years.

The cold war was "diplomatic brinksmanship highlighted with periods of military conflicts," explains John Lemza, a history teacher at John Tyler Community College.

While there were no clear winners, the western powers were vindicated in their philosophies says Lemza, a West Point graduate and retired military man who is currently teaching a Lifelong Learning Institute short course on the Cold War.

Francis Gary Powers became a symbol for the era. He was captured, sentenced and held prisoner by the Soviets until his exchange on Feb. 10, 1962 for Russian spy Colonel Rudolph Abel. Gary Powers, Jr., was 12 years old when his father died in 1977 in a helicopter crash while reporting the news and traffic for KNBC television in Los Angeles.

For the past nine years the new Midlothian resident has been working to make the Cold War Museum the centerpiece of an effort to honor Cold War veterans such as his father and keep the Cold War in historical context.

The son has left his job as President of the Vienna-Tysons [Corner] Chamber of Commerce to devote himself full time to the museum. He said he was working two jobs - 40 hours a week for one he got paid for and another 40 hours for the one he didn't. Now, "I work 80 hours for just one." Powers recently moved his family from Northern Virginia to the Midlothian area to escape the Northern Virginia traffic and to be near family.

"It's an hour and 40 minutes to Fairfax. For people in Washington, that's close to a normal commute," Powers says, only half-joking, from the home in The Grove where he moved his wife and their three-year-old son last summer.

Powers has had considerable success with the museum. It is an affiliate with the Smithsonian Institution and as such, has pledges of support for artifact loans from Smithsonian Air and Space, American History, National Portrait and U.S. Postal Museums.

Last week Virginia Congressman Tom Davis agreed to join the advisory board of the National Cold War Museum.

Powers is now involved in negotiations with Fairfax County Park Authority to locate the Cold War Museum at a former Nike Missile Base near Lorton, Va. Plans are to occupy the site in the fall. The museum received a $125,000 Virginia State grant last year but needs continued financial help as well. The goal is to raise $3 million over the next year and $40 million over the next ten years.

Powers is making plans to have the museum host a fall conference on "1956: The Hungarian and Poland Crises." Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet Premier, is expected to participate. The event is scheduled to coincide with the museum's 2006 groundbreaking.

More information Cold War Museum 703-273-2381 www.coldwar.org

The CIA's Freedom of Information Act documents on Gary Powers http://www.foia.cia.gov/search. asp?pageNumber=1&freqReqRecord= GaryPowers.txt