Editing Francis Gary Powers (section)

==Early life and education==
Powers was born August 17, 1929, in [[Jenkins, Kentucky]], the son of Oliver, a [[coal miner]], and his wife Ida. Powers was the only boy among the family's six children. Oliver, who often struggled to make ends meet, wanted his son to be a physician. When Powers was fourteen, he rode in a [[Piper Cub]] airplane at a state fair in West Virginia, sparking his fascination with aviation.{{sfn|Powers|Gentry|2004|p=3–4}}

During World War II, the Powers family briefly moved to [[Detroit]], where Oliver had taken a job at a defense plant, before returning to [[Grundy, Virginia]], where Powers finished high school. Powers then entered [[Milligan College]] as a [[Pre-medical|pre-med]] student, but switched majors to biology and chemistry in his third year. He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in 1950.{{sfn|Powers|Gentry|2004|p=5–6}}{{primary source inline|date=February 2021}} Powers married Barbara Gay Moore in Newnan, Georgia, on April 2, 1955.<ref>''Newnan-Coweta Magazine'', Sep/Oct 2011, p. 78, https://issuu.com/debwilli/docs/ncom_0910_11_all_lo/78</ref>