Silver Star to be Posthumously Presented to Capt. Francis Gary Powers

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will posthumously award the Silver Star to Capt. Francis Gary Powers during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Friday, June 15, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. EDT in the Hall of Heroes (2D1046).

Powers, whose U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, May 1, 1960, will receive the medal for demonstrating “exceptional loyalty” while enduring harsh interrogation in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow for almost two years.

Gary Powers Jr. and Dee Powers, Powers’s children, and Dick Anderegg, director of Air Force History, will be available to the media for on-camera interviews in the Office of the Secretary of Defense small television studio (2E963) on June 14 from noon to 4 p.m.  Additionally, there will be a media roundtable on June 14 at 11 a.m. in the Office of the Secretary of Defense Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973).

Media wishing to attend the ceremony on June 15 or the media roundtable on June 14 should contact Air Force Public Affairs no later than 3 p.m., June 13.  Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the River Entrance only.  Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event, have proof of press affiliation and two forms of photo identification.

Please contact the Air Force Press Desk at 703-695-0640 for escort into the building.