by RODERICK MULLINS
Sitting on land that was once a strip mine operation just outside the town of Wise, Va., is Lonesome Pine Airport, an airport facility that stands as an example of what mined land reclamation can do. The airport serves as a gateway to our region.
Yet, for almost 11 years, a promise made to one of our most storied native sons — U2 pilot and Cold War figure Francis Gary Powers — remains unfinished business, marked only by silence and an empty space where a tribute should be.
What began as a celebratory initiative 11 years ago to honor a local hero has devolved into a frustrating stalemate, leaving Francis Gary Powers Jr., the son of Francis Gary Powers, members of the community and other relatives caught in a web of miscommunication.
The question now isn’t just about a sign; it’s about whether we, as a community, will allow a significant piece of our history to slip away.
The importance of honoring Powers is perhaps best understood by looking at his deep roots in Southwest Virginia. While many know him from his connection to Southwest Virginia through family, Powers and his family were one-time residents of Buchanan County where he attended high school in Grundy before his family moved to Wise County.
Recognizing his significance to that region, Buchanan County has successfully honored that history by naming a bridge in his memory, ironic in the fact that Powers himself had to cross Glienicker Bridge, which connected East and West Berlin across Lake Wannseea, to reach freedom from being held in a Soviet prison in 1962.
The bridge in Buchanan County stands as a physical, permanent, and dignified tribute that stands as a testament to the life of Francis Gary Powers. It also serves as a stark contrast to the situation at Lonesome Pine Airport, where a similar promise of recognition through a dignified tribute remains unfulfilled.
The airport terminal naming project was born from a place of deep local pride in 2015. The goal was simple and noble: rename the terminal to honor the man who, from his humble roots in the Appalachian mountains, became a focal flashpoint of international Cold War history.
When the renaming was announced in 2015, the excitement was palpable.
Francis Gary Powers Jr. embraced the tribute of his father, even providing memorabilia to the airport. “This is a very nice way to honor a local resident,” he noted at the time, “to keep his memory alive but also as a way to educate people.”
But now, nearly eleven years later, that fanfare has faded. The terminal at Lonesome Pine Airport still bears no permanent signage. The “educational resource” promised to the public remains an abstract concept, and the artifacts provided by Powers sits in a showcase inside the airport terminal.
The facility has yet to formalize the honor it once publicly embraced.
From all accounts, it seems there has been a breakdown in clarity, communication and responsibility between the parties.
In an email response to the inquiry about the signage and exhibit, the chairman of the Cumberland Airport Commission maintains that their position has always been clear: while they authorized the naming, they never assumed responsibility for the financial burden of signage or the curation of exhibits.
According to Commission Chairman Donnie Rose, the understanding from the project’s inception was that private proponents would lead fundraising and design approval through the Virginia Department of Aviation.
The original proponents for the naming of the terminal have gone silent.
Despite attempts to reach the project’s initial organizers for their input, no response has been forthcoming or received. As communication has withered, the frustration has grown.
The situation is now at a tipping point.
Francis Gary Powers Jr. has expressed a heartbreaking but understandable sentiment: if the commitment to properly honor his father isn’t fulfilled, he may be forced to reclaim the artifacts currently on display inside the terminal facility at Lonesome Pine Airport.
Powers Jr. has other displays on the U2 Incident and his father on loan to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Museum in Washington, DC, the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum near Omaha, NE, and the Greenville Air Force Base Museum in Mississippi.
Losing these pieces from Lonesome Pine Airport would be a blow to our local heritage—a self-inflicted wound resulting from a failure to communicate through proper channels and clarify who would be responsible for what and follow through on a promise made to a hometown hero.
For short, the community cannot let the legacy of Francis Gary Powers be defined by a “bureaucratic” impasse. If the project is to be completed and brought to fruition, it will require a fresh start and the support of the community Powers came from.
It is simply a call to action.
It’s a call to action to the Cumberland Airport Commission and its members, community stakeholders and interested parties involved directly or indirectly, to establish a clear, public path forward.
The parties involved need to work together, despite past differences of opinion to raise the necessary funds or seek funding, to design, manufacture, and install permanent, professional signage that honors Powers with the dignity he deserves.
It’s a chance for all of these parties to get involved.
It will involve volunteers, consisting of local historians, business leaders, and concerned citizens to form an oversight committee to manage this project to completion. The public has a unique chance to turn a story of a stalemate and miscommunication into a story of community triumph honoring Powers and historical legacy.
Just as our neighbors in Buchanan County have honored Powers’ roots, we owe it to Powers’ memory, ourselves and those who don’t know the story and its importance in local, national and international history, to ensure this terminal at Lonesome Pine Airport finally bears his name with pride.
For Wise County and the region, as a community, we need to make it happen or history will be forgotten as to who Francis Gary Powers was.
That proposed sign? Once completed and installed, it will serve to identify the man and be a tribute to Powers and what he loved to do; fly.
The continued display of memorabilia will be a testimony to what Powers was like, what he did, who he was, and what the family has gone through in fighting to have Powers’ legacy remembered and recognized.
It is an educational experience and recognition to a man that played a pivotal point in history and in the Cold War. We can’t let an important part of our Appalachian history slip from our fingers and be forgotten.
For more info on what Francis Gary Powers, Jr. is doing to honor Cold War veterans, preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations about this time period, visit www.garypowers.com, www.coldwar.org, and www.SpyTour.com.
If you are interested in being a part of the efforts to raise or seek funding to finalize the signage, please contact Francis Gary Powers Jr. at https://garypowers.com/contact or gpowersjr@garypowers.com.
To register your support and send a message to the Cumberland Airport Commission at lonesomepineairport@gmail.com or (276) 328-5300 to express your interest in seeing the project through.
Your failure to respond and act will allow a significant piece of our history to slip away from future generations and the importance in history of a native son.
