Colin Powell

Colin Powell is a strong individual that has over come hardships of his own and that of his country. He is a man that was never satisfied with average and still excels in everything he does. Colin Powell is a leader and a role model to African Americans and the rest of the world.

On April 5, 1937 a true hero was born by the name Colin Luther Powell. He was born in Harlem, New York 12 years after his mother Maud and father Luther Theophilus Powell immigrated to New York from Jamaica. Colin grew up in New York City and proved to be a very intelligent human being. The Powell's were a very disciplined and religious family, which proved helpful in many cases. Colin skipped a grade in elementary school while excelling in his grasp for the English language. He proved extremely knowledgeable in many subjects. According to his older sister Marilyn he ÐŽ§excelled at map drawing and French, and he was elected ЎҐclass captainÐŽ¦ÐŽÐ. (Senna 9)

In 1953 Colin graduated Morris High School at the youthful age of sixteen. He did not have an idea of what he wanted to be all he knew was he wanted to make his parents proud. In the year 1954 Colin took his first step to his brilant future. He enrolled at CCNY (City College of New York). His parents insisted he major in engineering, and he did. He had no desire to further his education but did anyway to make his parents proud.

Early in ColinÐŽ¦s college career he joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). On June 9,1958 he graduated from CCNY as a ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. (Schraff 117) As accomplished as Colin already was he still faced racism. He was strong enough to never let this slow him down as he joined the army in 1958.

Colin Powell entered the army as a seconded lieutenant in the infantry. He was first stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia where he furthered his military education. Soon after in October 1958 he was sent to West Germany. While there Colin assumed the position of platoon leader. By the age of twenty-two he became first lieutenant. In December he was transferred to Fort Devens in Massachusetts. This is where he met Alma Vivian Johnson. Two years later they were married and he was promoted to captain.

Not long after his wedding he was sent over seas to a small country in Southeast Asia. He would not stay there for long as the Vietnam War began. In December if 1963 he was deployed to serve our country at war. While at war Colin and AlmaÐŽ¦s first son Michael was born. Powell was injured by an enemyÐŽ¦s booby trap in July of 1963. A year after being deployed, Colin comes back to the states and sees his son for the first time, and the new Powell family soon moved on to base together at Fort Benning. In 1965 the second edition to their family was born, Linda.

In 1966 Colin Powell received another promotion, making him Major Powell. A year later he was relocated to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. This was where he developed most of his leadership qualities. While being stationed in Kansas Powell advanced his education by studying at the Army Command and General Staff College. This proved effective when he graduated in 1968 ranking second in his class out of 1,244. (Powell 31) Later on that year Colin Powell was deployed to Vietnam once again.

While on his second tour of Vietnam he served as an executive officer, where he created strategies for his troop. A few months later he became the divisionÐŽ¦s assistant chief of staff. This gave him an even more important role in combat operations. He proved his fearlessness during a helicopter crash rescue in the jungle. After being involved in the crash he went onto rescue everyone else in the crash, and was awarded the SoldierÐŽ¦s Medal for bravery.

1969, Colin Powell came home from the Vietnam jungles as a highly rated leader and hero. A year later his third child Annemarie was born.