Russell then turned the questioning over to the other senators. White-haired Senator Saltonstall from Massachusetts, looking every bit the formidable New Englander, led off.
SENATOR SALTONSTALL: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Powers, I think I only have one or two questions. I have listened with interest to what you have said. I have listened to what Mr. McCone has told us, what he has given out in unclassified information, and I have listened to the chairman. My question would be this: Did I understand you correctly that when you were coming down in the parachute you threw away your instructions and threw away your map?
POWERS: No, I had no written instructions with me, but I did have a map, and I tore that up in very small pieces and scattered it out in the air as I was coming down.
SENATOR SALTONSTALL: So that your instructions were in your head, so to speak?
POWERS: Yes.
SENATOR SALTONSTALL: Now, did you have a briefcase or something else in which these other things, your special food, and these other things, were that they looked through afterward?
POWERS: Yes, I had what we call a seat pack. In this seat pack was a collapsible life raft, some food, some water, matches, several other items necessary to, say, live off the land or survive in an unpopulated area.
SENATOR SALTONSTALL: In other words, nothing except survival kit?
POWERS: Yes. There were also some cloth maps for escape and evasion.
I was anticipating another question, and what came next caught me completely off guard.
SENATOR SALTONSTALL: Mr. Powers, I will just say this: After listening to Mr. McCone and after listening to you, I commend you as a courageous, fine young American citizen who lived up to your instructions and who did the best you could under very difficult circumstances.
I managed to say “Thank you very much,” but my voice choked. I was deeply moved by his response. Excepting only the private remarks of Allen Dulles, this was the first commendation I had received since my return.
CHAIRMAN RUSSELL: Senator Byrd?
SENATOR BYRD: The chairman has very ably covered the ground, and I will not ask any questions. I do want to join with Senator Saltonstall in expressing my opinion that this witness, Mr. Powers, has made an excellent presentation. He has been frank, and I am also very much gratified that Mr. McCone has testified before the committee that so far as he knows no action has been taken by you which was contrary to your instructions or contrary to the interests of this country.
CHAIRMAN RUSSELL: Senator Smith?
SENATOR SMITH. Mr. Chairman, my questions have been covered, thank you.
Senator Stennis then questioned me regarding Grinev, my defense counsel, inquiring: “He rendered you a valuable service, did he?”
POWERS: Well, I really don’t know. I never did trust him any more than the rest of them.
SENATOR STENNIS. I mean by that he gave you information and talked to you, and you think you were better off at the trial than you would have been without his aid. What about that?
POWERS: I really don’t know.
SENATOR STENNIS: You have understood, I suppose, that at the time this occurred there was some publicity here, not a great deal, but some, that was not altogether favorable to you. Did you know about that?
POWERS: I have heard about this since I—
SENATOR STENNIS: This is just a prelude for my saying this—that it is with satisfaction that I learn that you have been fully exonerated by the men who most know how to judge what you did, what the facts were, by your superiors and those who employed you. Not only that, but they found that you have discharged all of your obligations to your country, and it is with satisfaction to us here, and I think to the American people, to learn that, to know it is true. I know it makes you feel mighty good.
POWERS: There was one thing that I always remembered while I was there and that was that “I am an American.”
SENATOR STENNIS: You are an American.
POWERS: Right.
SENATOR STENNIS: And proud of it?
POWERS: Right.
There was a spontaneous burst of applause from the audience which lasted several minutes. It more than made up for the applause that had greeted my ten-year prison sentence in Moscow.
After asking several questions about the wreckage of the plane, Senator Case brought up the subject of the timing of the flight. I was hoping the senators could enlighten me on this, for I was as curious as anyone else as to why approval had been given so close to the Summit. But, aside from my bringing out that weather conditions had determined the particular day, we got no closer to an answer.
Senator Symington, who had once visited Incirlik but had been denied information on Detachment 10-10 because he lacked the proper “need-to-know” approval (a refusal that greatly impressed him with our security), followed with a number of technical questions about the explosion. What did I think caused it, the former Secretary of the Air Force asked. I observed that the Russians had “stressed many, many times that they got me on the very first shot of a rocket, but they stressed it so much that I tend to disbelieve it.”
I had been told, during the debriefings, that intelligence sources within Russia had claimed a total of fourteen rockets had been fired at me. Whether this was true or not, I didn’t know. I did suspect, however, that there had been more than one.
SENATOR SYMINGTON: IS there any possibility that you were hit twice, once at a higher altitude, say, a near-miss, and again at a lower altitude?
POWERS: No.
I made that “No” as emphatic as possible.
SENATOR SYMINGTON: You did your best to destroy the plane, but, because of the gs on you at the time, you were just unable to reach the controls; is that correct?
POWERS: Yes, that is right.
SENATOR SYMINGTON: Mr. Chairman, I would like to join you and other members of the committee in commending Mr. Powers for the way he handled himself in this unfortunate episode. I have no further questions.
SENATOR BUSH: Mr. Chairman, I have no questions, but I also would like to say, having heard Mr. McCone’s reports today and having listened to Mr. Powers’ remarkable story, that I am satisfied he has conducted himself in exemplary fashion and in accordance with the highest traditions of service to one’s country, and I congratulate him upon his conduct in captivity and his safe return to the United States.
Senator Jackson then asked me whether the Russians had attempted to indoctrinate me in Communism. I replied that there had been no direct attempt as such, but that the only news I received came from Communist sources. He also asked me to describe my release, which I did, noting that not until I had stepped across the line did I learn that it was an exchange, with Abel involved.
SENATOR JACKSON: Mr. Chairman, I want to conclude by saying that I associate myself with the remarks previously made here. I think it is quite clear from what we have heard this morning and now that Mr. Powers has lived up to his contract.
CHAIRMAN RUSSELL: Senator Beall?
SENATOR BEALL: Mr. Chairman, I have no questions. I do want to associate myself with you and the balance of the committee in commending Mr. Powers for the very intelligent way he has handled himself. I was at the hearings this morning, and I am convinced that he has been very frank with us, and I congratulate him.
CHAIRMAN RUSSELL: Senator Thurmond?
SENATOR THURMOND: No questions, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN RUSSELL: Senator Goldwater?
SENATOR GOLD WATER: I have no questions.
Following some queries regarding Soviet justice and the absence of the jury system in Russia, Chairman Russell asked: “Any further questions by any member of the committee?” There were none.
Of the fourteen senators present, seven—Saltonstall, Byrd of Virginia, Stennis, Symington, Bush, Jackson, and Beall—had gone on record as stating their belief that I had lived up to my obligations, both insofar as my CIA contract was concerned and as an American. Chairman Russell, though he had made no statement, had indicated his agreement by the manner of his questioning. (Following the hearing, he told reporters that he agreed I had lived up to the terms of my contract.) Whatever the personal opinions of the remaining senators—Smith of Maine, Thurmond, Ervin, Byrd of West Virginia, Case, and Goldwater—they had declined to state them publicly. Later, however, on opening the envelope handed to me during the hearing, I found a Senate memorandum. Written in pencil, it read: “You did a good job for your country. Thanks. Barry Goldwater.”