Military official/diplomat. Born on April 5, 1937, in Harlem, New York. The son of Jamaican immigrants Luther and Maud Powell, Colin was raised in the South Bronx. Powell was educated in the New York City public schools, and graduated from Morris High School in 1954 without any definite plans for where he wanted to go in life. It was at City College of New York, where Powell studied geology, that he found his calling—in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). He soon became commander of his unit. This experience set him on a military career and gave him structure and direction in his life.

After graduation in 1958, Powell was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. While stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Colin Powell met Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama, and they married in 1962. The couple now has three children: son Michael, and daughters Linda and Annemarie. That same year, he was one of 16,000 advisers sent to South Vietnam by President John Kennedy. In 1963, Powell was wounded by a punji-stick booby trap while patrolling the Vietnamese-Laotian border. During this first tour of duty, he was awarded a Purple Heart and, a year later, a Bronze Star.

While on his second Vietnam tour of duty from 1968 to 1969, the 31-year-old Army major was given the assignment of investigating the My Lai massacre. In this incident, more than 300 civilians were killed by U.S. Army forces. Colin Powell's report seemed to refute the allegations of wrongdoing and stated, "Relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Also during this tour in Vietnam, Powell was injured in a helicopter crash. Despite his injury, he managed to rescue his comrades from the burning helicopter, for which he was awarded the Soldier's Medal. In all, Powell has received 11 military decorations, including the Legion of Merit.

Mamby, the child of a mother of Spanish descent and father from Jamaica, converted to Judaism at age 4.

Mamby is also a Vietnam Veteran.

Mamby became interested in boxing while on vacation in Jamaica, and compiled an amateur record of 25-5 before turning pro in 1969.

Lidon “Don” Chevannes grew up in New York City in Harlem. His parents were immigrants from Jamaica. He was drafted into the Army and, at age 19, served a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1972. He was a communications specialist attached to the 101st Airborne Division and the Seventh Cavalry. The experience of serving in Vietnam had a profound impact on Don’s life. During the last years of the war, drugs were a major problem in Vietnam, and he returned to the U.S. a heroin addict (He had not used drugs prior to his tour in Vietnam.) Don also started exhibiting symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder soon after his return, although his PTSD was not diagnosed and treated for more than a decade. Don struggled with addiction and PTSD for much of his life. Homeless and a resident at the Soldier On veterans’ shelter in Leeds in 2004, he completed a detox program and entered and completed the Ward 8 in-patient PTSD treatment program at the Leeds VAMC. He now lives in his own apartment and works as a building manager at Soldier On. As part of his extensive community service volunteer work, Don shares his story in schools and public venues through the Veterans Education Project.