Gary Powers Shoot Down and the U2 Spy Incident - The Cold War DOCUMENTARY

Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the Gary Powers Shoot Down and the U2 Spy Incident
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#ColdWar #Soviet #SovietUnion #GaryPowers #U2 @spyplane #CIA

[@Newdivide]

Nikita Khrushchev: Who the hell is this? Eisenhower: He's a... high-altitude weather enthusiast who flew off course. Nikita Khrushchev: OK, that sounds plausible... Waaaaaiit a minute. Why does he have a gun and a poison needle? Eisenhower: Because... He's a... very NAUGHTY high-altitude weather enthusiast. - Oversimplified, cold war

[@b1646717]

" and was punished severely. "

[@Newdivide]

@@b1646717g good one

[@Fire_Score_Maximum]

It’s actually President Dwight D. Eisenhower, not some generic American.

[@helghast_7203]

Now I know where U2 got their idea for Vertigo. Thank you.

[@smhorse]

For my part, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

[@loviedebiasio8864]

I remember when he died in the Helicopter crash. I was in 8th grade. on summer break swim in my friends pool. We saw smoke in the sky and rode our Bicycles to the crash site.. The crash happened in Encino California

[@veterankasrkin7416]

Khrushchev: Shoot down that American!! SA-2: Ok. Khrushchev: Shoot down that plane that is following the American! SA-2: ummmmmmmmmm, ok........

[@richdetlaff-5983]

Eisenhower had seen the atrocities that ussr had committed (the katyn massacre, holodomor and the Soviet invasion of Poland,co-op with Nazis in 1939)...the ussr and Stalin needed to be dismantled

[@seanshepard2000]

I am friends with Francis Gary Powers Jr, his son ... he runs the Cold War museum in northern VA and gives speeches/lectures on the cold war and his father whereever he can. He started a tour last year though the former DDR and into other places in Eastern Europe where he talks about the cold war. Really cool guy who gives a REALLY good insight to his father! I HIGHLY suggest checking out his website (you can google it) - his book, 'Spy Pilot' is a great read! I'm going to send him this link! BTW, during his trip to Russia around 2017, Powers Jr attended a concert that happened to be in exact same room that his father was "tried" and sentenced.

[@brandonblackfyre5783]

Life sure is strange. I bet he never in a million years would have thought that he would be partying in a building where his father was kept prisoner... I live in Maryland so Virginia isnt far away so I might have to go and check him out

[@caseclosed9342]

And 60 years later U2’s still make headlines when their pilots take selfies with spy balloons…

[@fluffypants]

Thank you

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@Monkey_SK]

Not "One" U2 song reference in this comment section, come on people!

[@helghast_7203]

I have remedied this issue.

[@Monkey_SK]

@@helghast_7203 many thanks 👍

[@helghast_7203]

@@Monkey_SK you’re welcome.

[@TheColdWarTV]

OK fine...Achtung baby! I'm glad this video debuted on Sunday (bloody Sunday), which has turned out to be a Beautiful Day; not a Lemon of a day at all! It's the Sweetest Thing to know that the video isn't Bad, and we take great Pride in the Mysterious Ways that make these videos Even Better Than The Real Thing. All I Want is You to Desire to watch these videos, even if you live Where the Streets Have No Name. Even though I Still Haven't Found What I'm looking For, I hope you decide to Stay.

[@helghast_7203]

Thank you Cold war channel, for making the best comment I’ve ever seen.

[@CarolusR3x]

I'm surprised this channel hasn't covered the story of Rhodesia yet

[@marctherrien2181]

I would like very much to see a video on the exchange of prisoners that involved Gary Powers. Especially considering that the lawyer who led the negotiations played a vital role in negotiating with Fidel Castro following the Bay of Pigs.

[@RX-12]

Actual exchange from Powers' trial: Prosecutor: Did you have permission to fly over the Soviet Union? Powers: If such permission had been given, it would have concerned higher authority and I would not have known anything about it. Prosecutor: If such permission had been given you would obviously not be in the prisoner's dock today. Powers: That is why I assume we had no such permission.

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

David (host of The Cold War), can you please make a video on Argentina during the era of Juan Peron. It would mean a lot to me if you made a video on this topic, since your audience will understand how Argentina's economy, politics and society all ended up as they are today.

[@nyantakyibannor9328]

I second this(not an Argentine though so I will definitely learn from such a video)

[@twistedyogert]

I'm honestly kind of mad that people were calling Cpt. Powers a coward for not killing himself.

[@KudzaishenyanhongoKudzie4ever]

what is the name of the melody playing in the background towards the end?

[@ukrainiipyat]

There were several incidents afterwards that both sides conveniently covered up - for unique reasons on both sides but with common result. It was as though U-2 incident and later on the Cuban Missile Crisis of Oct-Nov 1962 made USSR and USA governments realise that they had much to lose by publicity of close calls etc.

[@Nobody.exe50]

That movie is from 2015??? wtf im old, also that quote at the end was pure fire son 💥💥

[@brokenbridge6316]

If were going to see a special on the movie "Bridge of Spies" then I think it would be best if it talks about James Donavan and what he did to help Able and Powers. And who was played very nicely by Tom Hanks in the movie.

[@JaykPuten]

I always thought they'd told the U2 pilots to use the coin... Or "bite the buck" or some catchy phrase about using the coin if caught Or maybe I'm thinking of a different spy situation, I'm more than happy to find out what I'm forgetting/getting wrong

[@farooqhassan2702]

In 1963 I was studying in peshawar pakistan. Having recently returned frm usa. Gary powers had taken off frm the main airport. The usa had a tracking station outside Peshawar. Budaber.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

"Extremely embarrassing" would be a British understatement. "Caught spying pants down" would sound closer to actual reality.

[@donnyboon2896]

Yes

[@deshaun9473]

Will you cover the Naxalite Insurgency in India?

[@samwill7259]

Gee, who would have guessed Russia would have been upset about being spied on from the sky Who would even be upset about that deeply obvious insult to their sovereignty?

[@oldesertguy9616]

Considering they had spies all over the United States, nobody had any right to be outraged.

[@Roddy556]

Yeah the Soviets weren't exactly innocent throughout but I believe it was stuff like this (actual spy plane intruders disguised as civilian aircraft) that contributed to the multiple shoot downs of those Korean airliners (civilian aircraft intruders mistaken for spyplanes.)

[@samwill7259]

@@Roddy556 Just because Russia was doing wrong things does not make this any less of a wrong thing. Eye for an eye leaves everybody blind

[@Roddy556]

@samwill7259 that is exactly my point. They poked the bear with spy flights like this and then someone else got bit.

[@brandonblackfyre5783]

Is this the same event that the movie *"Behind Enemy Lines"* was made about? Where the pilot was shot down over a *Eastern European* country, I think *Bosnia* and there was a resuce attempt to extract him that failed at first?

[@oldesertguy9616]

I always have to laugh at the various countries being "outraged" at violations of their national security. I always thought the reason they (and I mean ALL governments) were upset was because they hadn't thought of that or didn't have the equipment to do the same.

[@USSLIBERTYREMEMBERER]

The chauvinism of Americans lol. On the anniversary of the geopolitical reaping of what you lot have sown for hundreds of years, no less lol

[@lisakeitel3957]

If there is no problem, just give every country the power to spy everyone else. Then wey can all laugh and the hipocresy Will end.

[@alex182618]

Powers wrote in his book that U-2 was a very successful program that revealed soviet bluff about their bomber build up. Agree. This plane is still flying.

[@twistedyogert]

Why use planes these days? Satellites are much harder to shoot down.

[@play030]

​@@twistedyogertactually they are not.

[@WatcherMovie008]

@@twistedyogert Satellites are very predictable since they orbit a very specific rotation around Earth. You can not change a satellite's orbit without compensating for change in angle, degree, and orbit, to which most satellites are not designed for since most satellites are designed to be disposable after every few years to decades.

[@bikkiikun]

"Was"?? Isn't the old Dragonlady still in active service (as of 2023)?

[@StephenLuke]

RIP Sergei Safronov (1930-1960)

[@muskreality]

A movie "Bridge of Spies" by Tom Hanks is a must watch

[@seanzibonanzi64]

Those Soviets sure had a knack for rocket propulsion, NATO thought their spy planes untouchable.

[@abelmanriquezmachuca4730]

Saludos. Incidente bastante bien resumido y con cierto equilibrio. Es mi caso favorito de la Guerra Fría, el que conozco con información recopilada de ambos estados involucrados. Personalmente, me conmueve Gary Powers, porque corrió y "pagó" enormes riesgos, y puede decirse que los soviéticos fueron en cierta forma "benignos" con él (a los espías en gran parte de las situaciones simplemente se los despachan, en prácticas comunes y cuasi de todos). Pero al retornar a los EE.UU. lo trataron como un vulgar traidor y, luego, tuvo que sobrevivir prácticamente en empleos muy menores a sus capacidades y olvidado, intencionadamente anónimo. Me gustaría leer lo que escribió él, lo realizado por su hijo, y lo que hayan recogido las versiones soviéticas. En lo de manejo comunicacional y propagandístico, fue un inmenso éxito de la URSS, humillante para los EE.UU., como humillante había sido para los soviéticos aguantarse por años que los U-2 se pasearan por su espacio áereo como por su casa, espiándolos a todo dar, sin que pudieran amagarlos siquiera. Y Powers hizo una hazaña en sí, al lograr salir con vida en esas condiciones y con su avión despedazándose y cayendo de altura inusitada, condiciones de lo que se estaba seguro nadie sobreviviría. Y en el U-2 la seguridad era casi 0000, pues en el aparato todo estaba "sacrificado" a ser muy ligero (cuasi un planeador) para lograr altura inalcanzable hasta que ese día de 1960 le llegó su hora. El U-2 no tenía ningún elemento ofensivo. Era un "Pato Feo" volador y fisgón inalcanzable por largo tiempo. Continúa existiendo este tipo de avión, actualizado y mejorado.

[@perrybonney9090]

People often say the Lockheed A-12 and SR-71 overflew the Soviet Union. They never did. The reason? Because not doing so was a condition of us getting FGP back. It flew around the perimeter of the USSR instead.

[@Fire_Score_Maximum]

Oversimplified’s Cold War video put this perfectly: Nikita Khrushchev: Who the hell is this? Dwight D. Eisenhower: He's a... high-altitude weather enthusiast who flew off course. Nikita Khrushchev: OK, that sounds plausible… Waaaaait a minute. Why does he have a gun and a poison needle? Dwight D. Eisenhower: Because... He's a... very NAUGHTY high-altitude weather enthusiast.

[@RR-pc7yv]

After this incident, the Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev once said: 'I will wipe out Peshawar from the world map'.

[@mrmr446]

Pretty horrific that the press reacted to his survival with 'You should have killed yourself.' If memory serves the Soviets never conducted overflights of US.

[@TheColdWarTV]

The Soviets never needed to conduct overflights. Freedom of movement as well as freedom of the press meant that anybody, including Soviet Embassy staff, could move around the country and generally keep tabs on what and where things were happening.

[@mrmr446]

@@TheColdWarTV the US is not so free that it doesn't have military secrets and no-fly zones to help keep them, just thought of three islands closed to US public.

[@TheColdWarTV]

Nobody is suggesting that there weren't secrets and secret locations. Overflights, and then satellite recon, for the US was about figuring out *where* the sites were. Same way that the Soviets were able to conduct on-the-ground recon to figure out where US sites were. That let them figure out what needed to be targeted in the event of war.

[@mrmr446]

@@TheColdWarTV Also mentioned in the episode is testing anti-air defences, relevant information if you're considering a strike, and the discussion about whether or not the flights were worth the risk both to the pilot and relations. Unless they were actively planning on starting a conflict I don't see a necessity, it just seems provocative and an easy propaganda win. I feel cynical thinking avoiding detente might have been a motive the channel has given so many examples of why we shouldn't trust anyone in this conflict.

[@deshaun9473]

​@@TheColdWarTVcould you also cover the vietnamese invasion of Laos? Thanks!!

[@padawanmage71]

Maybe I need to rewatch, but there was no reason given why Powers didn’t eat his silenced pistol? The poisoned penny as not something trained on is understandable , a pistol is easier to use. Was it because he thought of his wife and son?

[@bernardkealey6449]

Suicide is never a recommended option on an information gathering exercise during “peacetime”. Really f*ng bad publicity for the parent agency, and would have a detrimental impact on recruitment. perhaps different if you’re on an assassination or other casus belli active measure op. US gov has always operated on a “we will always do whatever we can to secure the release of our intelligence agents”. L-pills were, I believe, only ever supplied very rarely by CIA and mainly to foreign national spies who had zero chance of not being hideously tortured and executed. I’ve not read Powers’ book, would be interesting to see if he covers the pre mission briefings in regard to “what to expect in case of capture”, but given the mood at the time, they probably bet on “you’ll be far more valuable to them un-tortured”

[@wiktorberski9272]

Really interesting, especially when you discussed issues "in the background", and U2 incident was only a convenient excuse

[@bigsarge2085]

✌️

[@mitchyoung93]

30? He looks like he's sixty.

[@beepboop204]

[@paulmattt]

7:35. How can that be legal? He was an uninformed soldier.

[@CMAzeriah]

Hey you wouldn't allow us to freely take a peak at those missiles so we found a way to do it anyway. Until you have the tech to deal with it, what will you do?

[@scottallpress3818]

They offered them the mutual deal ….. knowing they would be doing this anyway lol win win

[@deoglemnaco7025]

All the girls in my class thought Gary Powers was so cute. This one had a poster of him in underwear I think. He was quite the teenage heartthrob

[@andrewemery4272]

I've seen his pilot seat in a museum in Moscow (it has a nasty stain on it - true.)

[@LukeSzczepaniak]

If it does have a stain on it then it's not from what you are implying.... U2 pilots fly in what are ostensibly space suits so there is no way anything from the pilot ended up on the seat.

[@nemo-no-name]

So very neutral reporting of the incident. Pity your other videos aren't written by the same level of neutrality.

[@lisakeitel3957]

US, always acting as if international law is not for them, but crying when someone else acts the same.

[@peter_de_Jong817]

American be like: why dit you shoot down our plane, your are so aggressive *surprised Pikachu*.

[@fatbadboy329]

Remember when American shot down the Chinese air balloons earlier, what goes around comes around 😂

[@woodsboy444]

Shoot down? Shot you mean

[@phyarth8082]

Lockheed U-2 still in service, most areal surveillance today is done with high altitude drones Airbus and Boeing. Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is out service, was surveillance plane in case of war with soviet union no heatseeking missile can intercept this plane, strangely it was developed in height of satellites technology. Be honest satellite's don't exist. Many aerial photos done from helicopters and high altitude drones today.

[@CombatantBlog]

Many A-12 and SR-71 were shot at, but they were radio guided surface to air missiles

[@ShamanKish]

I never believed in that fairy tale.

[@perrybonney9090]

What - you don’t believe that the Soviet Union shot him down? Or that the U-2 was capable of flying so high over the Soviet Union?

[@ShamanKish]

@@perrybonney9090 I don't believe the whole story especially the part that he jumped from that height at -50 C and little oxygen and survived. I think that USSR and USA were too often in collusion using Cold War to rule the world.