General Colin Powell was the first African American and the youngest person at age 52 to hold the highest military position in the Department of Defense.
Colin Powell was born on April 5, 1937 in Harlem, New York City. His parents Luther Theophilus and Maud Arial Powell immigrated from Jamaica. Young Colin Powell grew up in the South Bronx section of New York City. He received in 1958 a BS degree in Geology from the City College of New York and an Army Commission as a second Lieutenant from the ROTC program. He graduated in 1971 with a MBA from George Washington University after his second tour of Vietnam.
Powell established an outstanding military career, which included service in Vietnam as a Captain when he was injured by a Punji stake, as a Major during a second tour of Vietnam he survived a helicopter crash and was decorated for bravery for pulling three others from the burning helicopter crash including Major General Charles Martin Gettys, in the 1980’s he became senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger, in 1987 he became Ronald Reagan’s National Security Adviser, and in August of 1989 he was nominated as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President George H.W. Bush.