Month: October 2021

Colin Powell passed away today.

What a national treasure. 

And a personal mentor as well. General Powell probably has no memory of Air Force 2nd Lt Torrens. But I will always remain indebted to his formative role in my life. 

I met Colin Powell in the spring of 1991 on a gravel road in Iraq. My C-130 unit had deployed to Incirlik, Turkey to airdrop food and supplies to the Kurds in Northern Iraq retreating from Saddam Hussein’s post-war gas attacks on those who opposed him. Capt Stan Masters (another great American, gone too soon) was my pilot and informed me our role was to get General Powell out of the combat zone and onto a C-141 back to the States. 

“You can fly the leg out to go get him. Enjoy it because you aren’t touching the stick after he’s on the plane,” Capt Masters said to me. 

The road where Gen Powell waited was our landing strip and Capt Masters took the plane from me and put it down on brick one. “No copilot landings in a combat zone,” he said. Truth was, there was no way he was going to let his copilot jack up a landing in front of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. We kept the engines running while the loadmaster loaded the General and his staff on board. Gen Powell stuck his head up into the cockpit and Capt Masters introduced the crew. 

“We’ve got a spot for you to get some rest in the back, General. It’s not fancy, but hopefully you can sleep,” Masters said. 

“The heck with that. I want to hear about what you all have been doing. Got any room for me up here?” Gen Powell asked. 

We all looked at each other. The Chairman wanted to sit up front with us? The flight engineer stood up from his position with a smile and Gen Powell sat in the middle of the flight deck for the remainder of the flight. 

But he didn’t sleep. After a whirlwind tour in Iraq, checking in with the joint forces controlling the humanitarian aid delivery, he spent the next hour asking our crew about what we did in the war, how many kids we had and what they were doing, and how our spouses were holding up.

Over the next thirty years, I would read all of Colin Powell’s books. My American Journey. It Worked For Me. A Soldier’s Journey. The difference between these books and others on leadership? My crew saw it in action. He was a soldier’s soldier, and he practiced what he preached. Or as he said: 

“The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.”

 He was not infallible. No person ever was. I know he must have spent the last twenty years agonizing over his role in misinterpreting intelligence that led to the coalition invasion of Iraq. But no one will convince me his intentions were political. I firmly believe he was trying to do the right thing with the information he had. 

He lived out those life’s lessons of which he wrote, even as he entered his final chapter. I have fellow veterans with stories of interaction much more interesting than mine. Capt Greg Clark flew Secretary of State Powell back into the US from South America after 9-11—one of the few flights in the air that day. Even under the stress of that terrible attack, Secretary Powell was asking the crew how they were holding up. Combat vet Anthony Maggert has a great story about helping Gen Powell change a tire on his way to Walter Reed and how they stayed in touch after their chance meeting. 

It’s these simple tales from common soldiers that touch my heart. The stories are there because of a man who never let ego get in the way of teaching young men and women how humans should talk to one another. 

And there is no more appropriate lesson in today’s world. 

Thank you, Gen Powell for your humble service to our country and bless your family. Your nation mourns your passing.