On Friday, local time, friends, family and former colleagues gathered at the Washington National Cathedral to pay tribute to colin L. Powell, a former U.S. military force. Although the Iraq War was mistakenly launched because of the "washing powder incident", Powell was described by the US media as "a military diplomat with a pioneering spirit". Coming from a humble family in the Bronx, he later became the first black president of the joint chiefs of staff and later the first black secretary of state.
On the day of the funeral, dignitaries and friends from a wide range of political and military fields in the United States attended the funeral. They include current U.S. Presidents Joe Biden, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former Secretaries of State James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and current Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley, as well as other military chiefs.
The massive cathedral has hosted funerals for several former presidents, including Dwight d. Eisenhower, and when guests gathered, the U.S. Army Brass Quintet played a series of tunes, including "Dancing Queen" by Powell's favorite abba. When Powell's wife, Alma, and other family members were seated, the quintet played a hymn called "The Lord's Mansion."
Biden did not speak that day, nor did the last two presidents, Bill Clinton, who is recovering from infection, and Donald Trump, who did not attend because Powell had criticized him.
Eulogists included Madeleine Albright, Powell's predecessor and top U.S. diplomat; Richard Armitage, Powell's deputy secretary of state, whom they had known since they served together in the Pentagon of the Reagan administration; and Michael, Powell's son.
During the Clinton administration's tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Albright sometimes clashed with Powell, even though they became good friends. Both remember that in powell's final months as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she advocated for U.S. military intervention in the Balkans and questioned why the United States should build a strong one if it could not use it in such a situation. Powell recalled that her words made her angry, "I thought I was going to get an aneurysm." Powell's view that the United States should engage in military action only when it has clear, achievable political goals was a key factor in what came to be known as the "powell doctrine, embodying the lessons the United States learned from its defeat in the Vietnam War."
Powell died of complications from covid-19 on October 18 at the age of 84. He has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but his family says his immune system has been compromised by multiple myeloma and he has been receiving treatment. Those attending the funeral on Friday were asked to wear masks, though not all of them did.
In his autobiography, My Journey to America, Powell recalls his childhood in the Hunting Point District of New York's South Bronx after the Great Depression, where he was an ordinary student—carefree but aimless. In 1954, he became interested in the military during his first year at the City College of New York. Encouraged to see his classmates all in uniform, Powell joined the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps. Wearing the uniform, he wrote, "made me feel different" and that he later achieved "excellence" in his military career.
Powell will serve in the military for 35 years. In 1958, he was appointed second lieutenant and served as a platoon leader in a place known as West Germany at the time. In 1962, he was sent to Vietnam as an advisor to the South Vietnamese infantry battalion for a year. He was wounded on that trip; he served in Vietnam for the second time in 1968 and has since held various positions at home and abroad.
He had already made his mark at the Pentagon before he earned the rank of Flag Bearer. In the late 1970s, he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In 1983, as brigadier general, he became a senior military aide to Defense Minister Caspar Weinberger. He later served in the White House as President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser and was promoted to four-star general in 1989. Later that year, President George H.W. Bush elected him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When news of Powell's death was announced, former President George W. Bush said, "He's the president's favorite, and he's been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — twice." ”
Describing Powell's life, the US media said that it was a groundbreaking journey to the American Dream that won him international praise and trust. But when he appeared at the United Nations in February 2003 as U.S. Secretary of State, he put that credibility at risk by justifying the war against Iraq. When the intelligence he cites turns out to be wrong (i.e., the laundry detergent incident) and the Iraq War becomes a bloody, chaotic nightmare, Powell's good reputation is damaged, and he is attacked as a "war criminal" for it.
Nevertheless, after he left government, he became a veteran politician on the international stage and founded an organization designed to help young and vulnerable Americans. Republicans want him to run for president. But after being disappointed with his party, he eventually backed the last three Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom welcomed his support.
Long after Powell retired from public life, his influence was still affected at the highest levels of the U.S. defense agency. Lloyd Austin, who became the nation's first black defense secretary in January, called Powell his friend and career mentor. Like Powell, Austin rose through the ranks of the Army to become a four-star general. On the day Powell died, Austin called him "one of the greatest leaders we've ever seen."