Forgotten Heroes

Forgotten Her es Remembering Colin Powell

By Avi Heiligman

The duties of many senior commanders in the United States military and top civilian positions in the government are vast and generally unknown to the public. In the past, many in the government served in the military and have stories to go along with their medals. The recent passing of former secretary of state Colin Powell brought forth his story of military heroism in Vietnam. Powell also had extensive connections with the Jewish community both in his hometown of New York as well as in his foreign policy dealings with Israel in more recent years.

Colin Powell was born in Harlem, New York, in 1937 to parents who emigrated from Jamaica. Starting at the age of thirteen, he worked for a baby goods store called Sicker’s. The Jewish owners of the store treated him well, and he learned Yiddish as a second language. Knowing Yiddish helped him ease tensions many years later when he met Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir before the 1991 Gulf War. Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H. W. Bush, said, “Men kent reden Yiddish, We can speak in Yiddish,” leaving Shamir speechless. During his time working for Sicker’s, Powell also was a “Shabbos goy” for the community.

Before joining the military, Powell studied geology at City College of New York, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1958. While in college, he joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and joined a drill team called Pershing’s Rifles founded by the famous commander of the American forces in Europe during World War I. Powell graduated as a second lieutenant the same time he earned his bachelor’s degree and underwent training at Fort Benning. He was then assigned to the 48th Infantry Regiment, which was then stationed in West Germany.

In 1962, Captain Powell was sent to Vietnam for close to a year as one of the 16,000 advisors sent by President John Kennedy during that era. While there, Powell was attached to a South Vietnamese infantry battalion. During a patrol in an area held by the communist Viet Cong, Powell was wounded when he stepped on a punji stake (a simple trap made out of a wood or metal stick that is sharpened on the end and placed in the ground and easily camouflaged). The wound caused an infection that shortened his tour in Vietnam. For his injury, Powell was awarded the Purple Heart.

Upon his return to the U.S., Powell took an advanced infantry officers course at Fort Benning and became an instructor at the school. In 1968, he graduated from the Command and General Staff College. Later that year, he returned to Vietnam as a major as the assistant chief of staff of operations for the 23rd Infantry Division. During this tour of duty, he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing others from a helicopter that was burning after a crash. Despite his own wounds, Powell removed three others including the division commander from the fiery wreckage.

After his second tour in Vietnam, Powell went to Washington, D.C. In 1972, served a White House Fellowship for a year while under President Nixon and was assigned a position in the Office of Management and Budget. Once his fellowship was completed, he was given command of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and served on the Demilitarized Zone in Korea. He was promoted to colonel in 1976 after attending the National War College and was given command of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

In the early 1980s, following a series of position changes in the army, Major General Powell went to the Pentagon as the senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger. In this position, he was involved in assisting efforts in the invasion of Grenada in 1983

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and the 1986 airstrike in Libya. As a lieutenant general in 1986, he took command of V Corps which was headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Six months later, Powell was sent for by President Reagan to return to Washington and become the Deputy National Security Advisor. He soon was promoted to National Security Advisor and held that position until the end of Reagan’s presidency.

Under President George H. W. Bush, Powell became a four star general and in October 1989 was appointed as the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff. This is the most prestigious military position, and Powell oversaw many several military responses during his tenure. These included the invasion of Panama in December 1989, the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and operations in Somalia and Bosnia. In 2001, he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as the secretary of state under President George W. Bush.

At times, he clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during the Second Intifada but always backed Israel when it came to defending against terrorism.

Colin Powell’s early experiences in Vietnam helped shaped his successes when he was the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and as secretary of State. Having been under fire, Powell knew the difficulties and hardships regular soldiers go through on a daily basis.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

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