When Powers was fourteen, he rode in a Piper Cub airplane at a state fair in West Virginia, sparking his fascination with aviation.

[3] Powers enlisted in the United States Air Force in October 1950, initially working as a photo lab technician.

While assigned to gunnery school at Luke Air Force Base, a bout of appendicitis delayed his training, and the Korean War ended by the time he graduated.

[4] Powers was then assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, as a Republic F-84 Thunderjet pilot.

In October 1953, Powers was trained at Sandia Base in loading and dropping nuclear weapons from fighter aircraft, and in July 1954 was promoted to first lieutenant.

His training was complete by August 1956 and his unit, the Second Weather Observational Squadron (Provisional) or Detachment 10-10, was deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

[11] The U-2 was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera[11] designed to take high-resolution photos from the stratosphere over hostile countries, including the Soviet Union.

According to his book Operation Overflight, Powers delayed activating the camera's self-destruct mechanism until he made sure he could exit the cockpit before the charges detonated.

[23] Powers did note a second chute after landing on the ground, "some distance away and very high, a lone red and white parachute".

[24] When the U.S. government learned of Powers' disappearance over the Soviet Union, they lied that a "weather plane" had strayed off course after its pilot had "difficulties with his oxygen equipment".

Her broken leg, according to the CIA disinformation, was the result of a water-skiing accident, when in fact it happened after she had had too much to drink and was dancing with another man.

In the wake of his apology, American media often depicted Powers as a coward and even as a symptom of the decay of America's "moral character.

[29] He was held in Vladimir Central Prison, about 150 miles (240 km) east of Moscow, in building number 2 from September 9, 1960, until February 8, 1962.

CIA documents released in 2010 indicate that U.S. officials did not believe Powers' account of the incident at the time, because it was contradicted by a classified National Security Agency (NSA) report which alleged that the U-2 had descended from 65,000 to 34,000 feet (20 to 10 km) before changing course and disappearing from radar.

Due to political differences between the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic at the time, Pryor was turned over to American authorities at Checkpoint Charlie, before the exchange of Powers for Abel was allowed to proceed on the Glienicke Bridge.

He was criticized for not activating his aircraft's self-destruct charge to destroy the camera, photographic film, and related classified parts.

Powers wore a hollowed-out silver dollar on a chain around his neck that disguised within it a grooved needle embedded with deadly shellfish toxin designed to kill by pricking the skin.

During the hearing, Senator Saltonstall stated, "I commend you as a courageous, fine young American citizen who lived up to your instructions and who did the best you could under very difficult circumstances."

Powers, who did not retain a copy of this document, wrote that his six-and-a-half years of CIA service time was not honored due to bad publicity surrounding his case, and was a major factor in him deciding not to rejoin the Air Force.

[39] Powers stated that the reasons for the divorce included her infidelity and alcoholism, adding that she constantly threw tantrums and overdosed on pills shortly after his return.

[46] Powers was piloting a helicopter for Los Angeles TV station KNBC Channel 4 over the San Fernando Valley on August 1, 1977, when the aircraft crashed, killing him and his cameraman George Spears.

They had been recording video following brush fires in Santa Barbara County in the KNBC helicopter and were heading back when the crash occurred.

[47] His Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed at the Sepulveda Dam recreational area in Encino, California, several miles short of its intended landing site at Burbank Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board report attributed the probable cause of the crash to pilot error.

Powers was originally scheduled to receive it in April 1963 along with other pilots involved in the CIA's U-2 program, but the award was postponed for political reasons.

In 1970, Powers published his first—and only—book review, on a work about aerial reconnaissance, Unarmed and Unafraid by Glenn Infield, in the monthly magazine Business & Commercial Aviation.

[52] On June 15, 2012, Powers was posthumously awarded the Silver Star medal for "demonstrating 'exceptional loyalty' while enduring harsh interrogation in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow for almost two years.

Originally affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, it began as a traveling exhibit on the U-2 Incident until it found a permanent home in 2011 at Vint Hill Farm Station, a former Army communications base outside Washington, D.C., in Warrenton, Virginia.