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Exhibit Grand Opening |
On October 4, 2003, the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation (NTSHF) dedicated a new Nevada Atomic Testing History Institute Museum (NATHI) and Nevada Test Site repository on 755 East Flamingo Road at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) campus in Las Vegas, Nevada.Although the new building shared by the Desert Research Institute and the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation was dedicated and open to the public on October 4, 2003, the permanent Atomic Testing Museum (ATM) will not be completed until June 2004. Located on the first floor of the new building are the Atomic Testing Museum, temporary exhibit hall, auditorium, public reading room, and gift shop. To celebrate the Grand Opening, the NTSHF is featuring two exhibits in the temporary exhibit hall. The two exhibits now on display are the Frances Gary Powers U2 Incident Exhibit and the USAF 9068 Exhibit. Both exhibits were well received by the public and will remain on display until June 2004. The grand opening was a wonderful success. The auditorium was filled to capacity as Gary Powers Jr., son of Frances Gary Powers, and Sergei Kruschev, son of Nikita Kruschev spoke about their father’s involvement during the Cold War. After the lecture a prescreening of the never before seen documentary “The Cold War and Beyond” was shown. The documentary will be shown later in the month on PBS. | |
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USAF 9068 Exhibit |
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The propeller from USAF 9068 was reassembled for the opening of the USAF 9068 Exhibit. |
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Also in the exhibit are several items related to USAF 9068. On display is the radio, which was recovered on the August 2001 expedition to the crash site. Next to a model of the C54 is the yoke from USAF 9068. Rescue party member Merle Frehner brought the yoke down the mountain in 1955. The yoke is on loan to the exhibit thanks to the Dewaine and Judy Brown family. | |
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Steve Ririe, Susan Powers and Gary Powers Jr. stand in front of propeller from USAF 9068. Susan Powers is the wife of the late Frances Gary Powers and Gary Powers Jr. is the son of Frances Gary and Susan Powers. Gary Powers Jr. is Chairman of the Cold War National Museum. Susan Powers is a member of the Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial Committee. |
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The First Public Display of USAF 9068 / Summer 2002 |
Photo courtesy of Adrianna Swainston |
At the Saturday unveiling of USAF 9068 Propeller, Grace O’Donnell leans over to read the inscription. Grace is the last remaining mother of the men who perished on USAF 9068. Her son Terence “Terry” O’Donnell was a young CIA officer in 1955. The memorial plaque reads, “Propeller from USAF 9068 On November 17, 1955 at 6:58 a.m., a Douglas C-54 departed from Lockheed's air terminal in Burbank, CA. On board were 14 individuals, including Air Force personnel, engineers, scientists, and CIA officials. Their destination was top-secret "Area 51" where the United States housed one of its most secret Cold War projects --the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. Not long after takeoff, the C-54 encountered an early winter storm. In order to maintain secrecy, flights in and out of Area 51 operated under tight restrictions, requiring pilots to fly under visual flight rules without the benefit of navigation instruments. Battered by high winds and snow flurries, the C-54 was doomed. | |
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At 8:19 a.m., the C-54 crashed near the peak of Mount Charleston Nevada, killing all 14 men on board. So secret was the crew and passengers' involvement in the U-2 project that the families were not told the details of the mission or deaths for over four decades. In reverent memory, let it be known that James F. Bray, James W. Brown, Clayton D. Farris, Guy R. Fasolas, John H. Gaines, Fred F. Hanks, Richard J. Hruda, Rodney H. Kreimendahl, William H. Marr, Terence J. O'Donnell, George M. Pappas Jr., Harold C. Silent, Edwin J. Urolatis, and Paul E. Winham are Silent Heroes of the Cold War.” | | | |
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