Remember Anne Frank and Gary Powers?
Dr. John R. Eggers
July 29, 2008
Remember Anne Frank and Gary Powers?
Remember Anne Frank? How about Gary Powers? Both have connections with the month of July. Both have things in common with each other. Both have lessons to teach us.
First let’s review the facts.
On July 8, 1960 Francis Gary Powers, a CIA pilot, was charged with espionage by the Soviet Union. His U-2 plane was shot down while flying a secret mission over Moscow.
The CIA recruited Powers in 1956 to fly the Lockheed U-2, a spy plane that could reach altitudes of 80,000 feet. At the time it was invulnerable to Soviet anti-aircraft weapons and was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera designed to take high-resolution photos.
The Soviets were well aware of the U-2 missions but did not have the technology to do anything about them until 1960. On May 1, 1960, the Soviets shot the U-2 plane down as Powers crossed over into their territory where he was captured by the Soviet KGB.
Powers was unable to activate the plane's self-destruct mechanism before he parachuted safely to the ground. Unfortunately for the United States the plane was recovered by the Soviets almost fully intact with all of its photography equipment. Powers, after months of interrogation, confessed and made a public apology for his part in U.S. espionage.
It was bad timing for the United States. A major peace summit between the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France was to begin that month. With the news of the spy plane and with Powers’ confession, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev openly accused the Americans of being "militarist" and stormed out of the meeting, which set back the peace process for several years.
Powers served three years in prison and was later released in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Powers received a cold reception when he returned home. Among the complaints was his decision not to use an optional CIA-issued suicide pin. This pin, which was concealed in a hollowed out silver dollar, was to be used to avoid pain and suffering in case of torture.
On May 1, 2000, the 40th anniversary of the U-2 incident and 23 years after Powers' death in a helicopter crash, he was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, National Defense Service Medal and the CIA "Director's Medal" for courage in the line of duty.
On July 6, 1942, fearing deportation to a Nazi concentration camp, Anne Frank and her family took shelter in a factory run by Christian friends. The day before, Anne's older sister, Margot, had received a notice to be deported to a Nazi "work camp." During the next two years, under the threat of murder by the Nazi officers patrolling just outside the warehouse, 13 year-old Anne kept a diary.
On August 4, 1944, just two months after the successful Allied landing at Normandy, the Nazi Gestapo discovered the Frank's "Secret Annex." Anne and most of the others ended up at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Anne's diary was left behind, undiscovered by the Nazis.
In early 1945 Anne was moved with her sister, Margot, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Due to the deplorable conditions of the camp, the two sisters caught typhus and died in early March. After the war, Anne's diary was discovered in the Amsterdam hiding place and in 1947 was translated into English and published. It became an instant best seller and eventually was translated into more than 30 languages. The Diary of Anne Frank now serves as a testament to the six million Jews, including Anne herself, who died as a result of the Holocaust.
Anne Frank and Gary Powers lived in different times and played vastly different roles. What they had in common was that they both took significant risks but neither was able to appreciate the thanks given to them by millions of others as a result of their risk-taking.
What we should learn from Anne Frank and Gary Powers is this. First, we never really are fully aware of who we influence so don’t sell your life short. Each of our lives is meaningful to many people. Never forget this. Second, because we don’t know whom we influence, it’s wise to be on our best behavior. In other words, do your best to be a good person. And, third, the little things in life like writing a diary can be as important to people as flying a spy plane at 80,000 feet. So, happy landings.
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