Name: February Boca Raton Pilots Association Meeting - Francis Gary Powers, Jr.
Start: 2026-02-04T18:30:00-05:00
Location: Boca Raton Community Center

February Boca Raton Pilots Association Meeting - Francis Gary Powers, Jr.

Join us at our next meeting as we host a special guest speaker, Francis Gary Powers, Jr., whose father was shot down in a U-2 over Russia in 1960. He will discuss the Cold War,the U-2 Incident, what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a Cold War figure, and being a consultant on Spielberg’s 2015 Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies, that depicts his father’s shootdown and eventual exchange for Soviet spy Rudolph Abel in 1962 at the Glienicke Bridge in Potsdam, Germany.
Gary holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, and Master Degrees in Public Administration and US History. He is the Founder and Chairman of The Cold War Museum located at Vint Hill, VA. Gary is the author of Letters from a Soviet Prison, Spy Pilot, Enemy Territory (Graphic Novel), The Berlin Airlift (Graphic Novel), and his most recent publication, Cold War Virginia. Released in summer 2024 in collaboration with Christopher Sturdevant, Cold War Virginia showcases the Commonwealth's central role in the U.S. involvement during the Cold War. He lectures internationally, appears regularly on news broadcasts, and is married with one son.
The Boca Raton Pilots Association meeting is free to all. We will start at 6:30PM with pizza, drinks and socializing, followed by our speaker at 7:00 PM. There will be time for questions and answers after our speaker. We meet monthly, usually the first Wednesday of every month except there are no meetings in July, August and December. In December instead of our monthly meeting we hold a holiday event.