April 30, 2025

May 1st-Francis Gary Powers, 1st Public flushing toilets, Calamity Jane, Tim McGraw, SpongeBob, Cheerios, Pluto

May 1st-Francis Gary Powers, 1st Public flushing toilets, Calamity Jane, Tim McGraw, SpongeBob, Cheerios, Pluto

Today is the 65th anniversary of CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers being shot down in his U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union.  My co-host today is his son Gary Powers jr.  We got the whole story on his dads place in history.  Gary jr. is a very...

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Today is the 65th anniversary of CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers being shot down in his U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union. My co-host today is his son Gary Powers jr. We got the whole story on his dads place in history. Gary jr. is a very successfull author, speaker and authority on the cold war.
https://garypowers.com/ He also founded the Cold War Museum in Virgina, https://www.coldwar.org/ Make sure you check out his website and books.

National Lei day. Entertainment from 2006. Alamo founded, 1st public flushing toilets, Cheerios went on sale, Pluto named. Todays birthdays - Calamity Jane, Kate Smith, Glenn Ford, Sonny James, Rita Coolidge, Ray Parker jr, Tim McGraw. Steve Reeves died.

Intro - God did good - Dianna Corcoran https://www.diannacorcoran.com/
The lei song - Ruth Wallis
Bad day - Daniel Powter
Who says you can't go home again - Bon Jovi Jennifer Nettles
Birthdays - In da club - 50 Cent http://50cent.com/
God bless America - Kate Smith
Young love - Sonny James
Your love keeps lifting me higher - Rita Coolidge
Ghost Busters - Ray Parker Jr.
Welcome to the club - Tim McGraw
Exit - Toddin' & Turnin - Kenyon Lockry https://www.facebook.com/kenyon.lockry/
countryundergroundradio.com
cooolmedia.com

WEBVTT

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Hi everyone, I am Jeff, and thank you for joining

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us on history and factor he's about today. Today is

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May the first. Now today is really cool. Back in

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nineteen sixty it was the beginning of the height of

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the Cold War. I mean, the Cuban missile crisis hadn't

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hardy yet, but the United States and the Soviet Union

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there it was really tense between the two of them.

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When an America and UT spy plane was actually shot

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down over the Soviet Union, It's pilot and frances Gary Powers.

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He did survive luckily, but it brought a whole bunch

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of diplomatic troubles between the two countries. Now today it's

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the sixty fifth anniversary of that event. So to tell

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us all about it, we've got his son, Gary Powers

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Junior with us today. Now, Gary is a very successful historian,

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author and speaker a whole lot more so we're gonna

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have fun today finding out about Junior. Today, Gary, why

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did you introduce yourself?

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All right, Jeff, Well, thanks for having me on your show.

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My name is Francis Gary Powers Junior. I go by Gary.

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I'm an author, a historian, and a public speaker. I

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lecture internationally on the need to honor Cold War veterans,

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preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations, future students

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about this time period. I operate out of my home

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office near Richmond, Virginia, and I've been in the Virginia

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area now for about thirty thirty two years.

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Now, with your family being in the crossairs, did you

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did your dad talk to you a lot about the incident?

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Well?

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Yes, growing up, I had a very good relationship with

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my father. We'd hike and bike and fish, and i'd

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fly with him because he was a pilot and had

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a job of flying for radio and television stations. So

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I had a very nice relationship with my dad up

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until August first of seventy seven he dies in the

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helicopter crash while working for NBA SEE Television. But prior

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to that, we talked about the U two incident. I

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was reading his book Operation Overflight. I'd asked some questions.

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He'd give me some answers. But as a kid, that's nice, dad,

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I want to go play. So I wasn't asking the

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questions I wish I could ask now.

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Exactly now this kind of a side Did I read

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that you actually got to fly in one of those

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YouTube spyplanes.

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That's correct, Jeff back on the fortieth anniversary twenty five

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years ago, May first, twenty twenty. I'm sorry, May first,

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two thousand. I did a high flight in a U

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two out of bel Air Force Base in Central California.

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I got to see what your dad was experiencing and

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everything correct.

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Very surreal to fly in the backseat of a U two.

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It was I was able to find out, you know,

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what my dad did, what it was like to be

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at seventy thousand plus feet, just the serenity of it,

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the beautiful views, and just the also being alone. You're

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you're usually the utube pilots are in there alone, and

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I had a pilot in the front cockpit versus me

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in the back cockpit. But it was just a very

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wonderful flight and brought me very close to my dad

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and was a wonderful experience to see what he did.

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I's kind of surprise. I didn't even know he's still

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used the you too anymore.

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Oh my gosh. They are still in service. The new

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ones have been built or were built in late seventies

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early eighties. They are still flying today, head quartered out

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of bl Air Force Base, but I believe that September

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first is when their budget is terminated, and it might

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not last another year. It all depends on what Congress

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wants to do.

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I think there's talk about just going to like high

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altitude drones or something in there.

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Well, high altitude drones and low altitude drones and artificial

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intelligence controlled drones and.

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UAVs, the whole thing. Keep up, pilot's out of harm's way.

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Now that those satellites are so they're so much I

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don't even know if you really need the way they

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can pinpoint those satellites now.

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Oh yeah, it's amazing.

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We have thousands of satellites in orbit now and the

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majority of them, other than telecommunication, would be listening to

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what we do on the Earth.

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Might Yeah, Well, today is May the first, and now

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May it's named for Mayus, the Greek god of growth.

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May it's the only month of the year that the

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United States President hadn't died in The May birthstone is

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the emerald and the birth flower is Lilia of the Valleys.

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So to celebrate May first, why not go tropical?

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But take it from a sailor named Dady Hobby is

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known for its lace. He got his very fresh lay

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in Halifai.

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They made him right at home in Waikiki.

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He got his very.

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Fresh lay in.

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Today is National lay Day. Now la it is a

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pretty necklace made of flowersy. That's right.

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Now.

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They're all over the topics, but we're gonna celebrate the

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ones that come out of Hawaiian islands today. Now each

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island has its own lay. In eighteen sixty six, Mark

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Twain he actually wrote a whole bunch of stories about

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going to Hawaii for the Sacramento Union newspaper. Oute historians

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got so popular they went nationwide. Yeah, basically what started

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the Hawaiian tourist industry. So as tourist started coming over,

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the Hawaiians they started arriving on the beach and then

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see the boats up and greeting the tourists with leis.

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Now it sounds like a pretty good exclusive. That excuse

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that plan a trip to Hawaii? You spending time in Hawaii?

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I did a growing up, went a couple times with

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my parents and then once with a very good fraternity

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brother who I used to live out there.

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Well, fine, Now you actually established the Cold War museum

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out there back east.

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Right, Yes, I did, back in nineteen ninety six, I

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founded the Cold War Museum to honor veterans, preserve history,

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educate kids on the time period. It is located at

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vint Hill, Virginia, which is forty five miles west of Washington,

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d C. It's on a former Army communication base, a

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listening post that was active throughout World War Two and

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the Cold War to monitor electronic communications, signals intelligence from

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around the world, as well as the embassies in Washington,

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D C.

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That's some pretty intense stuff back then, at least now

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that we're finding out about it now.

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Oh, yes, a lot of stuff has come to light

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over the last fifty years now.

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That's definitely. So if you're back east in Virginia heading

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through that area, make sure you're swinging by the Cold

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warms and that sounds really.

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Cool, great, Jeff. Yeah.

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And also for more people or for people to find

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out more about it, they can visit our website coldwar

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dot org.

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So do people donate your what you're showing there or

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do you have to go hunt them all down? And

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how do you get all your display?

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Oh my gosh.

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Over the last twenty five years now or so, we

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have been collecting artifacts from any way We could some

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off eBay, some from retired veterans, from some family members

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of veterans who have passed. We have gotten items from

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the USS Liberty, the USS Pueblo, overhead reconnaissance platforms such

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as the U two, the SR seventy one k H

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Corona Hexagon satellite, Spice satellites. We have items from Civil

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Defense as well as of vent Hil, authentic items from

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vent Hil that were used during their heyday when they

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were listening to the Soviets and the other foreign countries.

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So we have quite a wonderful collection of flags, banners, regalia, uniforms,

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items from Potsdam and the military liaison missions, and just

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a whole slew of items that are now very hard

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to come by.

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Well, that sounds definitely like a must say, man, that

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sounds really interesting, that's for sure.

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All right.

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Let's see what happened in entertainment on May the first,

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Let's back here two thousand and six. Number one album

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was Me and My Gang by Rascal Flax. Daniel Powder

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had the m one song with bad Day because.

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You had a bad Day down.

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The number one country song was from bon Jovi and

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Jennifer Nettles. He says, you can't go home again.

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You can't around the world.

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Waking.

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The number one book was Two Little Girls in Blue

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by Mary Higgins Clark. The top movie was Mission Impossible

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three ethan hunt. He gets into it with ruthless drug dealer.

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Now that drug dealer wants to kill him and his

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fiance stars Tom Chriz, Michelle Monahan, and Ving Ryme's Philip

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seymour Hausman. Now you've done a lot of education. That's

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why you're in such a demand as a speaker and

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a writer and that kind of stuff. He came out

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here of Colorado and did a little schooling.

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That's correct.

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I got my second master's degree in US History from

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Adams State University there in Colorado.

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Did you enjoy your time? Oh?

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I did.

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It was a virtual course, so I did all my

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classes online, but I had to go to Colorado to

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defend my thesis. And my thesis was basically my second book,

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Spy Pilot.

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So I wrote this book.

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It was published in twenty nineteen, and I got my

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master's degree in US History in twenty eighteen, so my

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thesis became my second book.

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Well, that's pretty cool. On that many people's thesis has

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turned into good books.

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Well, thank you all right, you want to.

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See what happened in history today on May the first.

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Sure I know a little bit about the May first

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history other than the U two incident. Back in seventeen eighteen,

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the Spanish Catholic missionaries, they established this mission San Antonio

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de Ballero, which is better known as the Alamo. So

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that was established in seventeen eighteen on May first. Then

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back in Great Britain in eighteen the world's first postage

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stamp with an adhesive back went on sale. They called

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it the penny back or the penny Black I should say.

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It cost a penny and had a profile of Queen Victoria.

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Then again in eighteen fifty one, Great Britain had the

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Great Exhibition in London, George Jennings unveiled his newest invention.

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He called them monkey closets. They were the world's first

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public flushing toilets. Monkey closets. That's a great pit of

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trivia right there, and it cost one cent if you

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wanted to use one. In the Spanish American War back

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in eighteen ninety eight, off the Philippines, the US Navy

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had one of the biggest naval battles in history, they

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completely destroyed the Spanish fleet off the coast of Manila.

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The United States hardly had anyone get hurt. The US

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captain in charge, George Dewey, became so famous for the

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victory the Navy created a new hymn Admiral knew he

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was the first Navy admiral because of that sea engagement.

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It's more trivia, all right. When Clyde Tombod discovered Pluto

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in February of nineteen thirty, no one could decide what

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to name it. Everybody wanted their own little say and

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all that kind of caused really a lot of infighting

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between all the nerds to study that kind of stuff.

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But today, in nineteen thirty they all agreed on the

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name Pluto. Pluto, it's the Roman god of the underworld.

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Now.

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Venetia Burning came up with the name of it. She

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was eleven year old girl over in England her day.

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She successed it to her grandfather, who is a really

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big wig in the astronomy community. Nineteen thirty one, the

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Empire State Building opened up at undred and fifty feet

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I it was the world's tallest building. Yeah to stay

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that way until nineteen seventy when the World Trade Center

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bested today the Empire State Building. It's the fifty fourth

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largest building in the world. Nineteen thirty nine, Batman, he

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made his DC Comics debut. Do you like Cheerios?

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Yes, I do like Cheerios.

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It was nineteen forty one the serial Cheerios went on

230
00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:59.080
seal start out calling them cheery oats. That they changed

231
00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.200
the name of Cheerios. Nineteen forty five. Nineteen forty eight

232
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in Birmingham, Alabama, white US senator from Idaho. His name

233
00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.159
was Glenn Taylor. He got arrested. Yeah, see, he was

234
00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.120
entering a meeting there. He went through the wrong door.

235
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He went through the door marked as Negroes. All right,

236
00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.559
it was today in nineteen sixty that our co host

237
00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:16.320
knows all about.

238
00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:17.799
Well, that's correct.

239
00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:22.000
May one, nineteen sixty my father, Francis Gary Powers gets

240
00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:25.039
shot down over the Soviet Union hands up, spending two

241
00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.720
years in a Soviet prison, then gets exchange for a

242
00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.679
Soviet spy in February of.

243
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Nineteen sixty two.

244
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For those of you who are movie buffs, Steven Spielberg

245
00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.639
and Tom Hanks do a movie in twenty fifteen called

246
00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.480
Bridge of Spies that depicts this historical event of my

247
00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:44.720
father being shot down over the Soviet Union, the capture

248
00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.639
of Soviet spy Rudolph Abel in New York City and

249
00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:51.360
their ultimate exchange at the Glenacker Bridge in Potsdam, Germany

250
00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:55.000
on February tenth of nineteen sixty two. Just a quick

251
00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.879
thing I want to mention here about my father and

252
00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.200
the U two incident as a result of him being

253
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shot down. At the time in nineteen sixty there were

254
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a lot of controversies, a lot of conspiracy theories and

255
00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:09.960
fake news of the time. While my father was in prison,

256
00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.960
editorials were written in the newspapers saying he defected, he

257
00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.480
landed the plane intact, he spilled his guts and told

258
00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.399
the Soviets everything he knew, or that he had not

259
00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:25.000
followed orders and committed suicide, all of which were part truths,

260
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.600
mistruths in your windows, and some outright lies. In nineteen

261
00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:31.440
ninety eight, there was a declassification conference hosted by the

262
00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.120
CIA and the US Air Force at Fort Leslie j

263
00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:38.799
McNair in Washington, d C. It's declassifying the UTUBE program.

264
00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.240
As a result of that declassification conference, two very important

265
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things were revealed.

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For the first time.

267
00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:48.519
First, the altitude at which Dad was shot down seventy thousand,

268
00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.519
five hundred feet. There were no flame out, there was

269
00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.080
no sabotage, there was no pilot air It was an

270
00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:58.679
actual SA two missile, one of eight that were fired

271
00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.600
at the airplane on May first, explodes near enough to

272
00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:03.639
the tail section caused structural failure.

273
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It brings down the plane.

274
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The second major thing to be declassified on that date

275
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in ninety eight is that it was a CIA US

276
00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:15.919
Air Force program. For all intent and purposes, they could

277
00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.720
not be separated. As a result, it was a quote

278
00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.240
unquote military operation. Once that word military was declassified, it

279
00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:27.720
allowed the American government to posthumously award my father the

280
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.840
Pow Metal in May of two thousand and the Silver

281
00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.000
Star in June of twenty twelve. So, as a family,

282
00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.600
we're very honored and very humbled to know that Data

283
00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:41.720
has been honored by our government as a hero to

284
00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.519
our country. It took forty and fifty years, respectively, but

285
00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:47.399
it goes to show it's never too late to set

286
00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.679
the record straight, and we're very glad that they were

287
00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.639
able to do so back in two thousand and twenty twelve.

288
00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.720
Yeah, that has closed This kind of shows that fake

289
00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.480
news has always been there, you know, it always sucked.

290
00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:01.840
Oh yes, fake news, misinformation, disinformation is nothing new.

291
00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.120
So you actually consultant in that movie with Steven Spielberg, right.

292
00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:05.720
That's right.

293
00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.519
I was a consultant on it. I reached out to them.

294
00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.639
They got in touch with me after I sent an

295
00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.759
email to a few email addresses that I found online.

296
00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.519
I talked to their producer, Mark Platt. I told him

297
00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:20.639
what I'm doing with the Cold War Museum, cold War history,

298
00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.720
honoring veterans, preserving it for future generations, the knowledge base

299
00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:27.120
of my father, the research I've done, and as a

300
00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.639
result that they hired me on as a consultant.

301
00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:32.080
For the film. And that was a wonderful, wonderful experience.

302
00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:34.519
So as a finished product, how do you think they

303
00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:35.440
did for accuracy?

304
00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:35.919
Oh?

305
00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:40.240
Sure, The Big Picture is very accurate, historically accurate. It

306
00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.679
actually portrays the time period of the Cold War. Duck

307
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:48.360
and cover drills, civil defense, the fear and tension between

308
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:51.440
the Soviets and the Americans, the fear of a nuclear

309
00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:55.559
war between our two countries, all very actly portrayed the

310
00:15:55.639 --> 00:16:00.799
Big Picture. But you have to remember this is Hollywood. Embellish,

311
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:04.159
they use dramatic effect, they take artistic liberties. So while

312
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.000
the big pictures accurate, the details of each scene are

313
00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:11.279
not one hundred percent correct. There is some misinformation and

314
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.120
fake news of the time period that made it into

315
00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.480
the movie. Now, back in nineteen sixty, that's what was

316
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.279
being said that my father defected land of the plane,

317
00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:24.399
didn't commit suicide, all this stuff. But it was historically

318
00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:27.639
accurate in that regard because that's what was being said

319
00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:31.200
at the time period. It's not historically accurate in today's

320
00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:34.240
standards because not the truth of what took place. The

321
00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:38.080
misinformation still clouds the internet with the truth or from

322
00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:38.440
the truth.

323
00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.080
I should say, right, how you ever figured out how

324
00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.240
your dad survived actually ejecting at that height?

325
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.200
Well, yes, and I talked to my dad about this,

326
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.000
so I heard it firsthand from him, as well as

327
00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:52.960
reading other books and accounts and talking to some of

328
00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.559
his pilot friends after his death. He's at as assigned

329
00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.480
altitude of seventy than five hundred feet. There's the mists

330
00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.480
of an Essay two missile. It basically blows off the

331
00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.880
tail section. You can't fly a plane without the tail section,

332
00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:12.039
the nose pitches forward, the wings break off, the fuselage

333
00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:15.559
goes into an inverted spin. Dad falls in the cockpit

334
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.279
or in the plane from seventy five hundred feet to

335
00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:22.000
thirty thousand feet before bailing out. He does not eject

336
00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:24.680
because if he uses the ejection seat he will sever

337
00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.640
his legs on the way out. He basically ends up

338
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.039
crawling out of the airplane. He's tethered by his air

339
00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:33.519
hose still, so he's got two or three feet of

340
00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:37.160
air hose, half in the cockpit, half out, being banged around,

341
00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.640
can no longer reach the destruct button, can no longer

342
00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.880
see it, his face plates frosted over. He ends up

343
00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:47.039
breaking free of the air hose, falls free of the airplane.

344
00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.119
His parachute opens automatically at fifteen thousand feet and he

345
00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:54.720
parachutes down to the ground. Months on the ground, he's captured,

346
00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.839
a turned over to the authorities, turned over to the KGB,

347
00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:01.759
taken to lu Bianca Prison and downtown Moscow, and that's

348
00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.119
where he spends his first night of captivity on May

349
00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:05.759
first of nineteen sixty.

350
00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:07.559
And a quite theory deal. Getting out of that plain.

351
00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:09.720
It's amazing, it's still amazing, and he survived that.

352
00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:12.400
Oh yeah, had he not survived, I wouldn't be here.

353
00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:13.759
So I am very glad he did.

354
00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:17.920
And so I'm assuming this is just a little bit

355
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.279
i've read that. In fact, the guy shot down really

356
00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.039
shocked the Yes government, and that's why they kind of

357
00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:23.839
had that bad news about you dad. They didn't realize

358
00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:25.000
they could actually hit him that high.

359
00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:26.839
Right, that's exactly right, Jeff.

360
00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.359
Back in nineteen sixty when my father was shot down,

361
00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.640
the mentality was, we're better than the Soviets. We're more

362
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.720
advanced than so Soviets. If our missiles can't hit our plane,

363
00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.079
their missiles can't, they're behind us. It must have been

364
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.440
the pilot's fault. He must have done something wrong. Maybe

365
00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:47.480
there was a flame out, maybe there was some mechanical malfunction,

366
00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:53.000
but something happened because those pesky Russians can't reach that altitude. Well,

367
00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.920
they could back in the fifties, when the U two

368
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.240
program started in fifty six to sixty, the Soviets had

369
00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.640
the SA one that could only reach sixty thousand feet.

370
00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.519
Over four years of research and development, the Soviets improved

371
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.680
their weapons system. They created the SA two that could

372
00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:12.720
now reach seventy thousand feet and above. But because my

373
00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.200
dad was the first U two pilot to be shot

374
00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.440
down at seventy thousand feet Oh no, no, no, they

375
00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.680
can't reach that altitude. It had to be the pilot's fault.

376
00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:24.839
So it was easier to blame the pilot than to

377
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:28.720
publicly admit we were behind the Soviets and technology. It

378
00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.880
was easier to blame the pilot than to further embarrass

379
00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.799
President Eisenhower, who had just been caught line about this event.

380
00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:40.680
Eisenhower publicly states it's a weather research flight. Well, in fact,

381
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:43.680
it was a CIA fly, a spy flight, and Eisenhower

382
00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:47.039
got caught line to the American public, the world public.

383
00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.119
The very first time a US president was caught line

384
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:53.720
was Eisenhower because of the U two incident. Now, sixty

385
00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.079
five years later, we know that presidents can and do life,

386
00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.000
but back in nineteen sixty it was the very first

387
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.680
time one had been caught line.

388
00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:04.160
Sensational news stories around the world.

389
00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.720
And now you're kind of surprised if they don't lie exactly.

390
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:09.000
Oh, you're telling us the truth.

391
00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:11.000
You know.

392
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.240
It kind of sucks that it took him that long

393
00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.400
to actually clear your dad's name completely, because I mean,

394
00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:16.880
if he was such a bad pilot, didn't he come

395
00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:18.799
back and winning a test pilot?

396
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:19.920
That's correct.

397
00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:23.799
He gets home in February sixty two, he's debriefed by

398
00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:24.440
the CIA.

399
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:25.640
He's cleared.

400
00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.000
They realized he did everything he was supposed to do.

401
00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.279
He appears before a Senate Select committee, hearing the US

402
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:35.240
Senators exonerate him of any wrongdoing. So, you know, the

403
00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:38.240
first month back, he's been cleared by the CIA, He's

404
00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.319
been cleared exonerated by the US Senate, but he's not

405
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.759
yet been cleared by the court of public opinion. Because

406
00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.640
of the fake news of the time period, it tarnished

407
00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.720
his reputation. For the most part, my dad didn't care

408
00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:53.000
what other people thought. He knew that he did the

409
00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.160
things he was supposed to do, so he was very

410
00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:59.720
comfortable maintaining and getting on with his life after he

411
00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.880
came home. He just ignored everybody else about what they

412
00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.039
thought he should or should not have done. I like

413
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.920
to call those people armchair generals. He should have done this,

414
00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:10.720
he should have done that. If I was there, I

415
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.039
would have done it this way. Well they weren't there.

416
00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.839
Well that always catched yep, because there's no way they

417
00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:17.720
could have been there to.

418
00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.160
Be exactly, but boy from the armchair general and the

419
00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.559
comfort of their home on their sofa with their beer

420
00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:24.079
in their hand.

421
00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:25.440
Oh they could have done it better.

422
00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:27.759
Well, we kind of got a little bit of a

423
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.519
Cold war going nowadays with over in China and so

424
00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:33.680
China they were really putting their foot down. In twenty eighteen, yep,

425
00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.880
they're leaders of China's They decided to ban the British

426
00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:41.359
cartoon Pepa Pig if that Peppa Pig was subversive, and

427
00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:43.319
so they had removed from all their Internet sites and

428
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.920
they banned written from planning. Do you know Pepa Pig.

429
00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:48.559
I've heard of Peppa Pig, but I don't know the

430
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:49.640
full background of it.

431
00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:50.319
I don't know.

432
00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:52.279
All I know is I just kind of ready to

433
00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:52.920
see what it was.

434
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.519
Oh, very cool, those pesky Chinese. That is the new

435
00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.519
Cold War I refer to as Cold War two point zero.

436
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.720
Russia is going to be a pain, but China is

437
00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.960
long term strategy. They think in terms of centuries. They

438
00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:12.319
don't think in terms of days, years or decades. Hong Kong,

439
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:14.960
for example, a ninety nine year lease for them, that's

440
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.599
a drop in the bucket. Now, Hong Kong belongs to

441
00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:21.000
them again. They are strategizing how to make sure they

442
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.160
stay in power or become the number one power in

443
00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:29.559
the future. They're from their moon exploration, from their South

444
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:35.400
China Sea endeavors, from their economic dealings. They are really

445
00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:38.079
really going to be the next major superpower that we

446
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.039
have to contend with and are contending with right now.

447
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:43.480
I totally agree with you one percent on that one.

448
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:45.359
All right, should we do some birthdays?

449
00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:47.799
Birthdays? Who was born on May first?

450
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:53.160
Shot?

451
00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:54.759
Dish shiverday?

452
00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.960
We go party this shiver?

453
00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.599
Were simplatage this shiver?

454
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:05.039
You don't They didn't much studying in the wild West

455
00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:06.200
in the late eighteen hundreds.

456
00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:07.400
Oh say that again.

457
00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.960
Have you studied the wild West back in the late

458
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.160
eighteen hundreds? Very much?

459
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:14.319
Just a little, not a lot. My focus is on

460
00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.480
Cold War second half of the twentieth century.

461
00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:18.839
But I bet you still don't know this lady. She

462
00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:23.119
was a frontierswoman, a sharpshooter, Army scout, Indian fighter, Wild

463
00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:27.799
West show performer, prostitute Calamity Jane. She was born in Princeton, Missouri,

464
00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.599
in eighteen fifty two. Now both her parents died when

465
00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:32.920
she was fourteen years old. So she loaded up her

466
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.240
five younger siblings and they moved from Missouri o to Wyoming.

467
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:38.480
Started working as an army scout, but she got a

468
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:40.559
little glow on cash. She did a little prostitution in

469
00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.839
the Feeder family. Now she really became wilder and tougher

470
00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:47.119
than pretty much any man. And there was no doubt

471
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:50.240
by anybody ever around Calamity Jane that she could out

472
00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:52.839
drink any man. Now, she became really famous when she

473
00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.920
joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She ended up living

474
00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:58.200
up in dead with South Dakota, became best friends with

475
00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:01.359
wild Bill Hitcock. Now she was married twice or four times,

476
00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:04.240
nobody's quite sure, but she did have two daughters along

477
00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.799
the way. Now, all that drinking had got Calamity in

478
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.240
nineteen oh three, at only fifty one years old. Her

479
00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.559
only request before she died is that she was buried,

480
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:13.920
be buried next to her best friend. Yep, she's still

481
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:38.279
buried next to wild Bill to day.

482
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:33.839
Line.

483
00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:38.680
So even with the bad public opinion your dad got,

484
00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:40.920
did he still have a pretty big devout in love

485
00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:41.680
for his country.

486
00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.200
Oh? Yes, most definitely.

487
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.279
Even though Dad got a bad rap at the time,

488
00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:50.759
he was very much the patriot, believed in America and

489
00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:55.160
the Democracy did not like communism at all, which is

490
00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.880
why he was doing what he was doing to fly

491
00:24:56.920 --> 00:24:59.240
over the Soviet Union to find out their strength and

492
00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.119
weaknesses to keep Americans safe at home.

493
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:03.680
So yeah, he was very much loved his country.

494
00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:06.279
Cool. What we just heard was the first lady of radio.

495
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.000
Her name's Kate Smith. She was born in Greenville, Virginia

496
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.519
in nineteen oh seven. She was the first person seeing

497
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.119
God Bless America on the radio. She made her a

498
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:17.160
big superstar. From the nineteen thirties through World War Two,

499
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:19.400
she was the most popular female singer on the radio,

500
00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:22.440
saying with all the top orchestras. And during World War

501
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:25.240
Two she was able to raise over six hundred million

502
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.160
dollars selling war bonds. That's like a billion dollars today.

503
00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:30.480
That's the most any entertainment during that time was able

504
00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.480
to sell her in the war. In the nineteen fifties,

505
00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.400
she also had a couple of TV shows. Now, there

506
00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:37.559
is only one clip of Hank Williams the Senior obviously

507
00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:39.920
singing on TV. So if you see that clip of

508
00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:42.160
Hank singing on TV, yep was on one of her shows.

509
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:45.279
Kate She died from respiratorial failure nineteen eighty six at

510
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:49.440
seventy nine years old. Actor Glynn Flord Glynn Ford. He

511
00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:52.359
was born in Quinnet, Canada in nineteen eighteen. Acted for

512
00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:54.519
over fifty years, made over one hundred and ten movies,

513
00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:57.799
huge box office draws in the forties, fifties, and sixties.

514
00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:00.359
You probably know him best for playing Clark Cleanton Dad

515
00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:03.240
in the original Superman movie in nineteen seventy eight. For that,

516
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:07.920
He's starting Gilda, Blackboard, Jungle Free, Tende Yuma, Midway Now.

517
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.359
He had a son from his first wife. They divorced

518
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.480
and then he had three more divorces after that. They

519
00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:14.839
were really quick. Then he died in two thousand and six,

520
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:15.720
ninety years old.

521
00:26:16.119 --> 00:26:19.279
They saved boy, every boy and girl. They're just one

522
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:20.880
love in this world.

523
00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:21.720
And ah.

524
00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:33.799
The helping me to your embrace tells me no one

525
00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:35.119
can take kim place.

526
00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:36.480
Do you know who that is?

527
00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:40.559
I would think that would be country singer Sonny James.

528
00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:41.880
You bet you well.

529
00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:43.640
That was a very good guest, since I have a

530
00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:48.519
cheat sheet in front of me. Country singer Sonny James

531
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.000
was born on the family farm outside of Hackleberg, Alabama,

532
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.559
in nineteen twenty eight. Sonny is one of the most

533
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.720
successful country singers in history. After fighting in the Korean War,

534
00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.319
he came home and moved to Nashville. He released thirty

535
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:07.160
seven albums had twenty six number one songs. From nineteen

536
00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:10.799
sixty seven to seventy two, he had sixteen straight songs

537
00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:14.400
go to number one. That record stood until Blake Shelton

538
00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:18.000
had seventeen straight in twenty twenty one. So he married

539
00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:21.920
nineteen fifty seven. In nineteen eighty three, he retired from

540
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.960
music after all those years of touring. He just wanted

541
00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.799
to spend the rest of his life with his wife.

542
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.920
He died in twenty sixteen the age of eighty seven

543
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.799
years old, from natural causes. Then we have another clip.

544
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:46.400
Is listing, then.

545
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:46.000
The releasting.

546
00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:55.839
That clip brings back a lot of memories. Rita Coolidge

547
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.319
is eighty and born on May first. She was born

548
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.960
in Lothia, Tennessee. She had hit songs on pop, country, jazz,

549
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:08.279
and adult contemporary charts. She started out as a backup singer,

550
00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:14.039
sang behind Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix, and Eric Clapton.

551
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.400
Some of the greats. She was able to go solo

552
00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:20.640
in seventy one All Time High, I'd rather leave when

553
00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:23.960
I'm in love. Your love keeps lifting me higher. The

554
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.480
way you do, the things you do are some of

555
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:30.720
her big hits. She married Chris Christofferson for seven years.

556
00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:33.599
They had a daughter together. Rita has been married to

557
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:37.039
her third husband since twenty eighteen. So that's a little

558
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:40.119
bit about Rita Coolidge. And now the second or the third.

559
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:56.400
Clip Stange came.

560
00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:02.319
So that clip is by Ray Parker Junior, who was

561
00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:06.759
born in Detroit. He's seventy one on May first. He

562
00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:09.480
co wrote his first song when he was sixteen years old,

563
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.200
and he wrote it with Marvin Gay. Ray has written

564
00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:15.759
so many songs for so many big named artists, not

565
00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:19.079
even going to start listing them. In nineteen seventy seven,

566
00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.319
Ray started his own R and B group called Radio

567
00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:27.680
r Aydo. They had the hits Jack and Jill. A

568
00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:31.279
woman needs love just like you do. You can't change that.

569
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.319
In nineteen eighty two he went solo hit had a

570
00:29:34.359 --> 00:29:37.640
solo hit The Other Woman. I Still Can't get over

571
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:42.799
Losing You Ghostbusters. Ray married nineteen ninety four and he

572
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:43.920
has four children.

573
00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.319
Do you know the song by Huey Lewis in the news,

574
00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:47.559
I need I want a new drug?

575
00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:48.279
Yes?

576
00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:51.240
Did you know Huey sued Ray Parker Junior for that.

577
00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:53.519
He said that Ray just used as I want a

578
00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.640
new drug song and they went to court building.

579
00:29:56.359 --> 00:29:57.640
Interesting, I did not know that.

580
00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:00.279
And actually they found for you. Ray had to pay

581
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.599
Huey Lewis in the news, I think about thirty grand

582
00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:03.960
in order for rights for that.

583
00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:07.559
Wow, that's what happens when you get lawyers involved.

584
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:14.160
You for everything you call she won't now, you won't eat.

585
00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:21.119
You just want a mini bro in hard and wonder

586
00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:24.440
what wa Welcome you Just.

587
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:29.680
In nineteen ninety two, Welcome to the Club. That was

588
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.000
the first song that Tim McGraw released, made it all

589
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.119
the way up to number forty seven on the Country chart.

590
00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:37.799
Tim's fifty eight today is born as Start Louisiana. Some

591
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:40.279
of his twenty six number one songs are Don't Take

592
00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:43.480
the Girl, Not a Moment Too Soon, My Next Thirty Years,

593
00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:47.119
The Cowboy and Me. Timmy's kicking off a summer tour

594
00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:50.079
on July twenty first. It's up here in Fort Collins, Colorado,

595
00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:53.079
at the Colorado State University Stadium. Timm He's done quite

596
00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:54.960
a bit of acting. He was in the movie Friday

597
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.920
Night Lights, Flicka the blind Side on TV. He was

598
00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:01.640
in eighteen eighty three Mary Singer, Faith Hill back in

599
00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:04.480
nineteen ninety six, and they have three daughters. Now you

600
00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:06.920
mentioned your books, You've reatten, three really good. You've written

601
00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:09.000
a lot of articles too, but you've gotten three really

602
00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:09.880
good books out there.

603
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:13.440
Well, thank you. Yes, I do have several books published now.

604
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:16.559
I think there's up to seven or eight. My first one,

605
00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.880
Letters from a Soviet Prison, came out in twenty seventeen.

606
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:23.160
During my thirty five plus years of research to find

607
00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:26.200
out about my dad, I uncovered eighty five of his

608
00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:29.640
letters to and from prison to his family, as well

609
00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:32.799
as the journal he kept well incarcerated. So in twenty

610
00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:37.119
seventeen I had that published self published through Lulu.

611
00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:37.960
I wanted to make.

612
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:41.680
Sure that his written words, his thoughts, his feelings, his hopes,

613
00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:44.039
his despairs, what it's like to be in a Soviet

614
00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:46.920
prison during the middle of the Cold War was available

615
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:52.039
for students, scholars, researchers, so they could read his written

616
00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.960
words from the Horse's Mouth. In twenty nineteen, my second

617
00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.640
book came out, Spy Pilot Francis gary Pass, the U

618
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:05.599
two incident and a controversial Cold War legacy. I spent

619
00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:09.799
thirty five plus years doing research. I was interviewing family members,

620
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:13.960
Dad's contemporaries, pilots with the U two program of the

621
00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:14.759
US Air Force.

622
00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:15.440
People.

623
00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:22.440
He worked with, historians, air Force officials, retired CIA, FBIKGB,

624
00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:26.039
Soviet rocket scientists, whoever I could get a hold of

625
00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:27.960
to talk about the U two incident and find out

626
00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:30.720
the truth of what took place. So, after thirty five

627
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:33.920
years of research, I have my second book published. It

628
00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:36.839
is the Truth of what took place. It takes Dad's

629
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:41.480
reputation from infamy and controversy in the sixties to that

630
00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.599
of an American hero today. It goes through the behind

631
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:48.759
the scenes process as to how he was ultimately posthumously

632
00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:52.119
awarded the Pow Medal in two thousand and the Silver

633
00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:55.240
Star in twenty twelve. My third book came out in

634
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:59.079
twenty twenty two. It is a graphic novel, a glorified

635
00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:02.119
comic book for a younger audience. It's about the U

636
00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:05.759
two incident and it's called Enemy Territory. So this is

637
00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:09.759
a way for kids in school, middle schoolers, high schoolers

638
00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:12.839
to learn about the U two incident through a medium

639
00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.039
that many kids enjoy, which are comic books. My fourth

640
00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:18.599
book came out last year. My fourth, fifth, and sixth

641
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.920
books came out last year twenty twenty four, another graphic

642
00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.480
novel on the Berlin Airlift. I've written three books about Dad.

643
00:33:25.799 --> 00:33:28.519
Now I'm starting to write books about Cold War history

644
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:32.160
in general or specific events. So in the twenty twenty

645
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:36.279
four the Berlin Airlift, Remembering the Humanity, a graphic novel

646
00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:38.720
came out and it talks all about the Berlin Crisis,

647
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:42.519
the Berlin Airlift, Gayale Halverson, the Candy Bomber, and that

648
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:45.400
part of Cold War history. Another book that came out

649
00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:50.160
last year was Cold War Virginia. I partnered with a

650
00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:53.480
really good friend of mine, Chris Sturdivan. He already wrote

651
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:57.000
Cold War Illinois and Cold War Wisconsin, and now we've

652
00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:00.720
partnered together to write Cold War Virginia, Cold War California,

653
00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:04.839
Cold War Florida and other states as we go forward

654
00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:08.119
over the next few years. Cold War Virginia deals with

655
00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:12.519
sites in the Commonwealth that are Cold War related, the Pentagon,

656
00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:17.079
the CIA headquarters, Nike missile bases. They also deal with

657
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:21.880
personalities George Marshall, General Marshall, the Marshall Plan. He lived

658
00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:26.639
in Leesburg, Virginia. My dad, Gary Powers, Native Virginia born

659
00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.239
in Pound, Virginia in southwest Virginia near Kentucky. So those

660
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:33.239
are the type of articles and short stories you'll read

661
00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.320
in Cold War Virginia, all about the Commonwealth of Virginia's

662
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.639
Cold War history. Then my last book came out last year,

663
00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:45.960
Defending America Defensive Sites. And this was actually a study,

664
00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:50.400
a report that I participated in through the National Park Service.

665
00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:54.159
I was the chairman for the Presidential Advisory Committee on

666
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.679
the Cold War Themed Study, and I worked with National

667
00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:01.840
Park Service reps leading Cold War historians for about ten years.

668
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.480
As the chairman, we produced this report that identified Cold

669
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:10.599
War historic sites around the country for preservation. It is

670
00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:15.000
available online for free. You can look up National Park

671
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:19.119
Service Cold War to a Theme Study, Gary Powers, and

672
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:21.840
that'll pop it up. If you'd like a soft copy,

673
00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:25.440
a soft back copy of this report. I had it published.

674
00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.800
I threw my name on the cover. I gave the

675
00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:30.559
National Park Service full credit. But because I was the

676
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.159
chairman of this committee, I published the book so that

677
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:35.280
we could get it out for public distribution.

678
00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:38.079
I think it's the part that the younger generations who

679
00:35:38.119 --> 00:35:40.000
didn't go through the Cold War at all or anything,

680
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.679
they actually learn about it, because, like you said, it

681
00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:44.519
looks like we're heading that way again with China, and

682
00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:47.280
so give them, you know, let them know what's on

683
00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:49.480
the horizon least. I guess you would say.

684
00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:50.199
That's correct.

685
00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.599
Hopefully we won't repeat the same mistakes we did the

686
00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:54.199
first Cold War, but you never know.

687
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:56.599
Sometimes you just don't learn from history.

688
00:35:56.840 --> 00:35:59.320
That's true, and you actually do tours stuff to help

689
00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:02.719
people actually really see what's going on in the Cold War.

690
00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:04.039
That's right, Jeff.

691
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:08.639
I have been operating d C Cold War spy tours,

692
00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:11.840
or I should say spy tours of Washington, d C.

693
00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:15.840
For over twenty years. And what it entails is a

694
00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:18.800
group of people. A tour group will contact me. I

695
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:22.360
need thirty people minimum, fifty people maximum, one bus.

696
00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:23.599
I'll take them by.

697
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:28.199
Drop points, safe houses, and other clandestine locations where spies

698
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:31.440
were captured or killed in the Washington DC area. We

699
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:36.400
go by such places as the CIA headquarters, FBI headquarters,

700
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:42.400
National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, possibly even the NSA building

701
00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:45.519
up in Fort Meade, Maryland. They have a great museum

702
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:48.639
there called the National Cryptologic Museum that we can visit.

703
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:51.920
Sometimes will take groups to the Spy Museum in downtown

704
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.760
d C. Or to the Cold War Museum at Vinhil, Virginia.

705
00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:59.079
All depends on what their budget and their time constraints are.

706
00:36:59.320 --> 00:37:02.039
In addition to in the DC's tours, for the last

707
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:06.800
three years, I've been running Cold War espionage tours of Europe.

708
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:10.119
My first one in twenty twenty three went to sites

709
00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:13.119
in Germany and the Czech Republic. My second one in

710
00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:17.239
twenty twenty four went to sites in Austria, Czech Republic,

711
00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:20.840
Slovakia and Hungary. And this one my one for twenty

712
00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:25.679
twenty five. We depart tomorrow April. In April through May

713
00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:31.920
third we will be going to sites in UK, Netherlands

714
00:37:32.360 --> 00:37:35.159
as well as Germany. So if you're interested in these

715
00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:37.039
type of tours, you can find out more about them

716
00:37:37.079 --> 00:37:40.480
online at Garypowers dot com or you can also go

717
00:37:40.519 --> 00:37:44.119
to my other website, spytour dot com and you can

718
00:37:44.119 --> 00:37:46.039
find out all about the tours I'm doing and you

719
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:47.880
can contact me through those web pages.

720
00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:50.599
That is really cool, and you're actually having a fundraiser

721
00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.599
for the Cold War Museum coming up.

722
00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:52.920
Correct.

723
00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:56.199
Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that. That's most important.

724
00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:00.400
May thirteenth is give Local Piedmont and we live in

725
00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:03.760
the Piedmont region of Virginia at vent Hill, so it's

726
00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:08.320
a local area a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits to

727
00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:12.079
raise funds. On May thirteenth, If you go to our

728
00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:15.280
website and you click under donate, you should get to

729
00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:18.679
one of the links. You can also sign up for

730
00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:21.840
our newsletter and we can distribute out information to you

731
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:24.960
that way online at coldwar dot org. If you'd like

732
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:27.639
to donate and make a contribution to the Colder Museum

733
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:30.519
to help our efforts to honor veterans, preserve history, and

734
00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:34.599
educate kids, you can do so anytime, but the campaign

735
00:38:34.840 --> 00:38:38.159
Early Giving starts on April twenty ninth and then goes

736
00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:42.400
through May thirteenth. On May thirteenth, that's the really big

737
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.360
fundraising day where we're encouraging everybody to give on that day,

738
00:38:45.719 --> 00:38:47.320
But if you can't, you can do it at least

739
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:49.800
a week week and a half before starting April twenty ninth,

740
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:52.559
So more information online at coldwar dot org.

741
00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:54.760
Then we'll put that on the show notes too, so

742
00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:57.000
you can in case you didn't get all that, but yeah,

743
00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:59.719
that's definitely something you want to put some money into. Man,

744
00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:02.480
a pretty pretty impressive thing that you got going on there.

745
00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:03.239
Thank you.

746
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:05.440
And we are a five oh one C three charity,

747
00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:08.840
so any donation is tax deductible as permitted by law.

748
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:11.920
Awesome, Well, thank you Gary Man, it's been a great show.

749
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:12.960
I'm really glad you came on.

750
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.119
Well, thank you Jeff for the invitation. And anytime you

751
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:18.079
want to do a follow up, please let me know.

752
00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:20.480
Okay, I'm gonna hold you to it.

753
00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:23.639
Uh oh, put my foot in my mouth there.

754
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:25.880
And thank all of you. I hope you had a

755
00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:28.920
good time today too. Now we we have a country

756
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:31.320
radio station. It's called Country and Ground Radio plays the

757
00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:33.719
best up and coming and independent country artist out there.

758
00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:36.440
We're gonna end with Kenny Kenyon Lockray and his son

759
00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:38.880
Thowson and turning. You guys have an awesome day and

760
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:39.719
we'll talk tomorrow.

761
00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:45.400
Play in here with my hand on my hand all alone. King,

762
00:39:47.800 --> 00:40:02.119
you're naughty speaking my phone. Oh you got my sholo

763
00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:09.880
tossing and turning for you. You got me Tausa, you

764
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:13.480
got me turning, He held in the middle of the nine.

765
00:40:13.599 --> 00:40:17.400
I'm here, But even if you were here, I wouldn't

766
00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.440
loved you. And the eye