Powell first fought in combat during the Vietnam War and rose through the military ranks to become the first Black national security adviser during the end of President Ronald Reagan’s second term. He was the first Black, and the youngest, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 18 (UPI) — Former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell died on Monday due to complications from COVID-19, his family said. He was 84.

Powell’s family announced his death in a post to Facebook.

“General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from COVID-19,” they wrote. “We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment.

“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.”

The family noted that he was fully vaccinated.

Powell first fought in combat during the Vietnam War and rose through the military ranks to become the first Black national security adviser during the end of President Ronald Reagan‘s second term. He was the first Black, and the youngest, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Powell became widely known in the United States following the first Gulf War in 1990. For a time during the 1990s he was often recruited to run for the Republican presidential nomination. He served as secretary of state under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/10/18/obit-colin-powell-dies-covid/5331634560071/