Tuesday; February 12
On May 1, 1960 the Russian military shot down a plane inside their airspace. The U-2 plane was piloted by Francis Gary Powers, an American CIA pilot. In the beginning there appears to have been some confusion about what happened, but that was soon cleared up and it became evident that our government had a problem on its hands – and a decision needed to be made: do we acknowledge our intentions of espionage or do we develop a cover-up story? The Eisenhower administration opted for the latter and before the incident was finally put to rest our nation would be held out for international ridicule. In the end, it will be history that will ultimately have to decide if the political maneuvering was worth the black eye we received. I bring up this incident, not to discuss U. S. foreign policy or the value of spying, rather to launch into a discussion of personal trust and integrity. Clint Hill was attached to President Eisenhower’s Secret Service detail during thi