The sharpened stick was smeared with buffalo excrement to increase the odds of a deadly infection. PowellвЂ™s first tour was cut short when he stepped on a North Vietnamese booby trap called a punji spike. And I had been drawn in to fill the void.вЂќ Leadership, like nature, abhors a vacuum. вЂњNevertheless, the two of us were in quiet collusion. вЂњI was supposed to be an advisor, not the leader,вЂќ Powell wrote in his 1995 memoir My American Journey. But when one Vietnamese commander lacked rapport with his men, young Powell stepped in to win the confidence of his 400 troops. When the commander was effective, Powell stepped back into soldier mode, often personally leading dangerous counterinsurgency raids. Powell, a 25-year-old Army captain, was among them.Дuring his year-long tour, Powell was a tactical advisor to three different South Vietnamese army commanders, and he adapted his supporting role to fit each manвЂ™s personality, writes Matthews. Kennedy sent thousands of вЂњmilitary advisorsвЂќ to Vietnam from 1961 to 1963. In an effort to strengthen the South Vietnamese armyвЂ™s response to the NorthвЂ™s guerilla attacks, President John F.

military involvement in the ongoing conflict that pitted the communist North Vietnamese against the pro-Western government of the South.

Powell arrived in Vietnam on Christmas Day 1962. Powell's First Tour Advising South Vietnamese Generals

Heroes generals status