Jan. 16, 1963 - Former U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was granted a divorce in Milledgeville, Ga., today after testifying that his wife (pictured right in 1960) was a habitual drunk and was “the only person who ever mistreated me” during his two years in a Russian prison. Mrs. Barbara Gay Powers, 28, countered that imprisonment had left Powers “void of all feeling” except bitterness toward her. A jury of 12 married men awarded Powers the divorce after deliberating about an hour. The former spy pilot showed no emotion at the verdict. Mrs. Powers was not in the courtroom. Powers, during the trial which opened yesterday, testified that he went as long as 45 days without a letter from his wife while in prison. Powers said that his confinement “made me appreciate this country quite a bit, but it didn’t make me appreciate my wife.”
