Colin Powell Essay Example For Students

Colin Powell Essay My Written Report is a Short Biography of Colin Luther Powell. He was born on May 5, 1937 in Presbyterian Hospital. He was born, and grew up, in the South Bronx, New York. There was a big influence of drugs and gangs where Powell lived but, he seemed to steer away from all of that (source 1, page 23). Powells parents were immigrants from Jamaica. His mothers name is Muad Ariel McKoy. In Jamaica the McKoy fammily watched over sugar plantations. She came to America with her mother (Colins grandmother). Powells fathers name is Luther Theophilus Powell. In Jamaica the Powell families were peasant farmers. Muad and Luther while in New York not in Jamaica (source 1, page 20, 21). Colin Powell is a smart man. Surprisingly when he was in fourth grade he was in the slow class. When he attended Junior High School, he went to an all male school. He did well academically but he was over looked by his parents because his sister, Marilyn Powell, always did better. He attended Morris High School in 1950. He was good in high school; he never got into any fights or any sort of trouble. He completed High school in 1954 (source 1, page 29, 30, 32). Powell applied to two colleges City College of New York (CCNY) and New York University (NYU). Both accepted him but he went to CCNY because it only ten dollars a semester as opposed to seven hundred and fifty dollars a semester at NYU. Powell majored in Engendering. He finished college in 1958 (source 1 pages 32, 36). While in college Powell joined the Recruit Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Powell said he joined ROTC because of the discipline and The sense of comradery among a group of young men who were similarly motivated. Maybe it was the uniform. Another reason he said he joined is because of the association with the military source 2 (interview page 1) (biography page 1). While Powell was in ROTC, he was in the Pershing Rifles. The Pershing Rifles showed that a cadet was more serious about ROTC than a regular cadet. The Pershing R ifles had to stay in ROTC their whole college career. They were distinguished through a yellow wrap worn on their right shoulder (source 1, page 40). In 1987 Powell was the Nation Security Advisor to Ronald Regan. Two years later in 1989 he became the first black officer and the youngest officer to hold the nations highest military office, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. While the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff he Played a role in planning and executing the invasion of Panama in 1989 and the Persian Gulf War (1991).(Source 4, page 1) When Powell joined the United States Army in 1958 he was commissioned a second lieutenant source 2 (biography page 1). He went to Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning in Georgia. They learned a number of things but I will only list a few; they learned stuff like how to call artillery fire, how to fill out government forms, use a radio, maintain motor vehicles, and handle a prisoner of war. They did not learn any of this stuff in ROTC (source 1 pages 45, 46). Powell asked and received orders to go to both Airborne and Ranger schools. Airborne school was a bunch of punishing humiliating and repetitive physical training. Most of this hard work was mental and the physical part was toughening for future paratroopers. Ranger school is the ultimate training. They work in the muddiest, sweatiest and most tiring and taxing in the infantrymans life in the field. Now Powell is an Airborne Ranger, which is a big accomplishment (source 1, page 47) In 1962 Powell was on his first tour in Vietnam, they were going to special forces camp and Powell stepped off the trail and into a punji trap. This trap set buy Vietcong, the trap is basically a hole in the ground with bamboo spikes in the hole. The bamboo spikes can go through any boot and have buffalo dung on them to make sure they are infectious. 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