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Colin L. Powell (5 Apr 1937 - 18 Oct 2021) American army officer a retired four-star general in the U.S. Army, born of Jamaican immigrants who impressed the value of education and accomplishment. He served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for President George H.W. Bush, and Secretary of State for President G. W. Bush.

Education

One Minute Read

by Colin Powell
Excerpt from My American Journey

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One morning at a commanders call, General [“The Gunfighter”] Emerson announced, “Everybody in this division is going to be a high school graduate.” Probably half of our troops were dropouts. Many had never succeeded at anything, never stuck to or completed a task, beyond enlisting in the Army or getting drafted. We were to find teachers, start classes, and prepare these men to take the GED, the General Educational Development program. And they’d damn well better pass.

We scoured the countryside, hired American wives whom some soldiers had brought to Korea at their own expense. We hired American civilians and assigned qualified officers and noncoms to teach. We set up classes in barracks, rec rooms, day-rooms, and supply rooms. From 3:00 p.m., when the men came in from field training, until supper, they were in class, studying

English, math, science, and history. When the general asked what percent of our eligible soldiers were enrolled in the program and we reported 85 percent, he said, “Dammit, where’s the other fifteen?” As Gunfighter saw it, the U.S. Army had entered into a contract with these young people. We had told them that the Army would make something of them, give them something useful to take back to civilian life. If they left without an education, they were headed back to the bottom of the heap.

[Think about this — every school, every teacher, in a sense, has entered into a contract for their young students. Colin Powell reminds us that the goal for any school and any teacher is always to be there for each student, to “make something of them, give them something useful to take back to civilian life.” Colin Powell was one of the finest Americans. He made something of himself. His words are worth remembering when they are needed most. Perhaps worth posting on a classroom wall? —Webmaster]

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Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)

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