RUSSIA: The Boy from Virginia

Q. What is your profession?

A. Pilot.

Q. What place of work?

A. Detachment 10-10 at Adana. Turkey.

Q. When did you receive the order to fly over Soviet territory?

A. In the morning on May 1.

Q. Where did you receive the order to fly to the Soviet Union?

A. In the town of Peshawar in Pakistan.

Thus, in the flat accents of Pound, Va.,

U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers began to describe his part in one of history's most celebrated—and. until his mishap, most successful—espionage operations.

The many-columned courtroom where Powers was brought to trial after...