On October 18, General Colin Powell died from complications of COVID-19. Powell was born on April 5, 1937 to Jamaican immigrants and grew up in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. He studied geology at the City College of New York and described himself as a “C average student.” After attending the Reserves Officers Training Corps while in college, Powell started his career in the military, fighting in the Vietnam War and eventually becoming a four-star general.
Alexandria City High School