LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — On Monday, people went to Fort Leavenworth to pay their respects and lay down flowers at the statue of Colin Powell, after he died of COVID-19 complications.
The statue sits in a park that honors Black veterans for their contributions, and now Fort Leavenworth is commemorating Powell.
Powell was stationed at Fort Leavenworth twice. He attended the Command and General Staff College in 1967 and graduated second out of a class of 1,244 people.
He came back as a one-star general in 1982.
One day, Powell was jogging on the post and noticed a street named after the 9th Calvary, a Buffalo Soldier regiment.
"'That's all there is commemorating Buffalo Soldiers on Fort Leavenworth? Something's wrong with this,'" Jeff Wingo, public affairs officer for the base recounted Powell's reaction. "So that began a spark of what you see today, is the Buffalo Soldier Monument and the Circle of Firsts."
In the park, people can see the statue of Powell, who was the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first Black Secretary of State. Powell came back to the base in 2014 for the statue dedication.
"You could see the character of Colin Powell, very stern but, in a sense, relaxed because he was very comfortable with himself," Wingo said. "It was good to meet him."
People can also see commemorations for other Black military members who were the first to achieve impressive ranks and titles, such as Henry Flipper, who was the first Black student to graduate from West Point.
"Colin Powell, it was because of him that he pulled together shakers and movers that could actually make this monument happen," Wingo said. "He dedicated it in 1992, so it's a significant event for Fort Leavenworth, the Army and for the nation."
The monument and park is free to the public.
