A funeral service was held at the Washington National Cathedral for former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair and Secretary of State Colin Powell Friday. The video above shows clips from the service. Powell died at 84 last month “due to complications from COVID-19”. He had been vaccinated against the virus. However, his family said his immune system had been compromised by multiple myeloma, a blood cancer for which he had been undergoing treatment.
“To honor his legacy, I hope we do more than consign him to the history books. I hope we recommit ourselves to being a nation where we are still making his kind,” Powell’s son Michael said at the funeral. “As he said in his autobiography, his journey was an American journey. Colin Powell was a great lion with a big heart. We will miss him terribly.”
A reflection of his decades of public service, the funeral service for Powell drew some of the biggest diplomats and former diplomats in the country. They included:
- President Joe Biden
- Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama
- Former Vice President Dick Cheney
- Former Secretaries of State James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton
- Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates
- Current Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Army Gen. Mark Milley
The only living presidents who were not in attendance for the Powell funeral service were Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
“As I grew to know him, I came to view Colin Powell as a figure who almost transcended time for his virtues, were Homeric. Honesty, dignity, loyalty and an unshakable commitment to his calling and word,” Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at the funeral. “These were the same traits he sought tirelessly to instill in the soldiers under his command, the diplomats he led, the colleagues with whom he worked.”
Richard Armitage, who served as the State Department’s No.-2-ranking official while Powell was secretary of state during the Bush administration, added “Listen real carefully and you might hear our savior say, Colin welcome home. And here’s your starry crown.”
