veterans day. that is the summation of what s wrong. colin powell for the hour. this is piers morgan tonight. for many americans colin powell is still the face of the modern military, retired four-star general, the only african american to serve on the joint chiefs of staff and the secretary of state to george w. bush. he s here to talk about a cause close to his heart, the state of america s military veterans. general colin powell joins me now. thank you for welcoming me to this extraordinary building. thank you. we re in the national war college. you were here 35 years ago. i graduated 35 years ago. that s hard to believe. we had our 35th anniversary. it has a great deal of meaning for all of us. when you were here as a young, fresh-faced colin powell, what was the big thing for you. i was doing well in the army, but i had no idea what the army had in store pe for me. i was here with a group of army officers and state officers as well as air force officers.