Colin Powell was an affirmative action general that knew and played the game well but if things had been based on merit alone no one would know who he was. Flame suit on.
@Bigun Anybody that thinks Colon Powell was conservative is delusuional. He was barely smarter than most bricks,and was a total affirmative-action general and presidential "advisor" who would have likely spent his life driving a taxi but for Affirmative Action and Henry Kissinger wanting a "darkie" to carry his briefcase while serving as a bodyguard.
He was so freaking incompetent as an army officer that he is the ONLY US Army advisor to a VN unit in VN that I ever heard of that didn't even get the standard "thanks for not burning down our country" award when his tour ended. A lot of that probably was due to the FACT that in his entire 1 year tour with a SVN Infantry unit,he never went on combat missions with them to serve as an advisor. Which was a pretty freaking big deal because one reason US advisors were assigned to VN infantry units was that if immediate air or artillery strikes were needed,the officers in the US Army or aerial units were MUCH more likely to respond to "we need help and here is where we need it!" calls than a voice over the radio with a Vietnamese accent.
He got his Bronze Star for Meritious Service on his second tour,where his job was to carry a briefcase for a General. Which,I guess proved he had the experience Little Henry needed. He got that award for being a PASSENGER in a helicopter flying to a briefing that had mechanial problems and had to make an emergency landing in a jungle clearing. There was NO enemy action involved whatsoever.
I am GUESSING that was when he put himself in for his CIB,because Gawd knows the only shots he ever heard fired were on a firing range.
He should have NEVER been promoted beyone the rank of Captain O-3 after proving he was a coward and a slacker in VN,but along came affirmation action and the need for alleged Republican politicians to "prove" they weren't prejudiced. Powell had found his calling.