FREE ESSAY ON MY AMERICAN JOURNEY

MY AMERICAN JOURNEY

Book Report on Colin Powell's My American Journey
Introduction
Retired General Colin Powell is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He
spent a career in the United States Army lasting 35 years. He retired at the rank of four
star general. He started his military education and career at the City College of New
York in 1954. He was the son of Luther and Arie Powell of New York, born on the 5th of
April 1937. His parents were meager people and he lived in a rented apartment until the
age of 4 when he moved to the South Bronx where he finished his lower education and
received his high school diploma. Upon graduating high school he applied to two
universities, New York University (NYU) and the City College of New York (CCNY). He was
accepted to both of the colleges but due to a price difference, NYU was $750 and CCNY was
$10 a Year, he enrolled in CCNY. He was commissioned out of the CCNY ROTC program 4 years
later and entered the army in June of 1958. After the officer's basic course and various
other military courses he received his first duty station as a platoon leader in the 3rd
Armor Division in West Germany. From here began what came to be a most illustrious
military career, consisting of a command track from platoon level to the commander of
FORSCOM with numerous White House positions. He retired from his last command, the Army's
highest-ranking Military Officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was also
asked by many of his supporters to run for the office of President, which he declined.
The City College of New York ROTC
The book contained information on Colin Powell that proved more interesting as the page
number increased. Some of the events of his life were more interesting than other parts.
How his Army career started as a ROTC cadet and not an academy student was surprising to
find out. General Powell was also able to serve two tours of Duty in the Republic of
Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Racism also played a significant role in the career of
this acclaimed Army general. The entire book is complete with many different scenarios
with many of his different leadership, but these points provided a base for his career.
At CCNY Colin Powell would get his first glimpse of the United States Army. He started
his college education majoring in engineering and ended changing it to geology the second
semester. He decided after an engineering class that engineering was not for him and
needed to find something more suitable to his academic appetite. His parents and
relatives were appalled by this decision because the job prospects for geologists weren't
such a great aspect for a young black college graduate. He had found information on ROTC
and decided to give the program a chance. Here he found his place in life and decided
that he would receive the Army commission and become a lieutenant upon graduation. This
also satisfied the worried family members because this job promised a pension after 20
years of service. 
While in ROTC he was asked to join a number of military clubs and fraternities. He
accepted the invitation from the "Pershing Rifles." At this time this was the most elite
of the military groups and had the most closeness between members. The ROTC program at
CCNY consisted of fourteen hundred cadets and competition for the top positions was
tight. It was in ROTC where Colin Powell experienced his first run in with racism in the
military. He was chosen the best cadet of Company D and then from there went up for the
best cadet of the entire program. He was able to take a secure second place in this
competition. It was at this time one of the cadre came to him and told him that he knew
why he did not get the first position. He told him that the reason was because the rest
of the cadre did not want to admit that the best cadet at CCNY was a Negro. It didn't
quite strike home upon hearing the statement, Colin had said that it shouldn't be a race
situation and why couldn't this cadre just accept that the other cadet was better than he
was. The situation was puzzling but he had a few more experiences with this type attitude
from other cadre at different training sites and he was able to realize the reality of
racism. One in particular was training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Upon completion of
his basic cadet course he was driven back by two white NCO's. They had to make a stop to
use the restroom on the way and Colin noticed the restroom signs. They were written on
three separate doors as follows: " Men, Women, and Negroes." Situations such as these did
not exist as much on the bases with many soldiers as it did in situations with just a
few. He continued his ROTC education and graduated in May of 1958. He received the branch
of Infantry Officer and went on to graduate from Airborne and Ranger School at Fort
Benning Georgia.
Vietnam
Colin had completed his first two duty stations in West Germany and at Ft. Devens. From
these duty stations, where he was able to hold two company command positions at the rank
of lieutenant, he was promoted to Captain and then transferred to Vietnam for his first
tour in the War. He was stationed with a battalion of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN) to be an advisor to the Vietnamese leadership. He would spend a year stationed
away from his newly wed wife in a primitive type forest environment surround by people
that did not talk much English. So this time was one of loneliness for Colin. Here he
would become seasoned under fire with the Vietnamese Army. In the book he was able to
describe many of the feelings that our soldiers are presented with during wartime. The
main focus was on how the leadership of the soldiers actually moved affected the unit in
actual battle. Here he was able to work with three different Vietnamese battalion
commanders. The first proved the most competent and it showed in the troops whenever
there was an engagement with the enemy. How well the troops assembled and were able to
overcome the enemy. The second commander was less in control and seemed more of a
garrison type officer than a field leader. He did not hold the pose of the first and did
not quite fill the shoes left to him either. The battalion showed of low morale and
almost as if they had been just as new as the leader. Colin was able to gain control and
trust of the unit and make many decisions for the battalion commander. The commander had
proved to be more of a burden to the unit than an important addition as the leader of the
unit should be. Time passed and the commander was wounded and had to be evacuated to a
nearby base and was replaced by a more competent leader who was able to make decisions
that were helpful towards the success of the unit. Colin Powell did not fully agree with
American forces in Vietnam, but was able to carry out his missions to the full extent and
follow the orders of the officer's appointed above him. The lessons he learned of good
leadership and hardship of warfare he took with him to each and everyone one of his
following commands.
Racism
Colin Powell had his ordeals with Racism in the United States Army, but most were able to
be overcome or corrected. He also stated in his book that the Army Forts also served as
more of a refuge to a more racist civilian society outside the posts. One instance of
racism in the army happened while he was stationed in Korea at Camp Casey. Colin Powell
was a new Lieutenant Colonel in a Battalion Commander position. It seemed that when the
soldiers would have off duty time they would go to a nearby village and drink and go to
bars and such. What started the racist line to be drawn was the type of music played at
the bars. The black soldiers preferred more soul or jazz type music and the white
soldiers preferred Cowboy and Country Western type and it started many a brawl in the
oriental bars. The bar owners decided to split the music 3 soul and jazz songs to every 7
country western songs. This also turned out in turmoil because the black soldiers would
be mad for %70 of the time and the white soldiers would be mad for %10 of the time. So
this led to more racial segregation. There finally came to a point where the village was
actually divided in half for the two groups. The groups actually thought they owned each
half and would beat anyone from the other group for crossing the line. The margin would
be called the "Crack." The Commanding General received word of this debauchle and decided
that something had to be done and he called all of his commanders in and said that each
commander would to both sides of the crack and have a good time and anyone caught
harassing or threatening would be sent to the Army Brig on base. He had a company of
Military Police attached and an immediate response force ready and waiting at the base.
Needless to say the crack eventually faded away. The commander had made the statement
that any racism was prohibited on Camp Casey and any violators would be dealt with
strictly to the extent of the punishment. A number of other activities were created to
increase morale among the troops and the racial problem all but faded on Camp Casey. 
With all the increased pressure on racial accusations some of the white officers and
noncoms had problems with giving discipline to black soldiers. Colin did not let any of
this bother him or any of his subordinates. He stated that if the soldier is doing
something that you as a leader consider wrong then you have to be able to let the soldier
know that it is wrong. This came to test when a new black soldier entered his battalion
and attempted to rally the other black soldiers against the white leaders of the
battalion. Colin got word of this from his Sergeant Major and went to investigate the
soldier. Colin found the soldier behind the barracks preaching to the other soldiers
about the white leadership and it was found that the accusations were true. He simply
called the soldier into his office had him transferred back to the states to be
discharged from the Army. The message rang through the battalion and the soldiers knew
not to mess with "Bro P" as Colin Powell was called by some of the black soldiers of the
battalion. 
Racism had played a part in the Army of the past but in Colin's eyes it seemed to be
fading away especially with the release of the draftees from service. The Army was
becoming an All-Volunteer Army and the education levels of the soldiers were increasing.
Powell states that a low education and background was the culprit behind much of the
toils of racism in the United States Army. He also states that it may not be as strong as
the old days, but as a leader we must always be alert to these type of demoralizing
attitudes.
Reference:
1. Powell, Colin and Persisco, Joseph E. My American Journey.A Ballantine Book, 
1995.