As An Army Chorus Member, He Didn't Carry A Weapon. His Job Was To Sing

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/24/ [login to see] /army-chorus-singer-military-oldest-opera
Master Sgt. Alvy Powell Jr. didn't enlist in the Army to be a soldier in combat — he was there to sing.

With the U.S. Army Chorus, Alvy performed for nine American presidents and at some of the country's most-decorated institutions. Alvy, now 65, retired in 2017 with a special distinction: the Army's oldest enlisted soldier.

He first joined the Army Chorus in 1983. But if not for his sister, Yvonne Powell, 71, he may have never pursued his career in the first place.

"I started singing because of you," he told her during a StoryCorps conversation in Norfolk, Va., last week. "The way you sang, the beauty of your voice, it made me stop whatever I was doing."

So, he tried to mimic her sound, he said.

They often sang duets in church, as Yvonne recalled fondly. "I like your voice, always did," she said.

While Yvonne never liked to be the center of attention as a singer, Alvy pursued singing professionally.