Lt. Colonel Carol Swain

“The chief condition on which, life, health, and vigor depend on, is action. It is by action that an organism develops its faculties, increases its energy, and strains the fulfillment of its destiny.” – General Colin Powell. 

If any person was about action, it was retired Lt. Col. Carroll E. Swain Sr. Swain was born in Roanoke on Aug. 6, 1927, to Robert and Mahala Swain. As one of two children, Carroll Swain grew up in the northeast and northwest sections of Roanoke where he lived among successful diligent black people. His father worked for the railroad, a job that supported the family. In 1945 he would graduate from the prestigious all-Black Lucy Addison High School. During the 1940s it was a certainty that young men who turned 18 was drafted into the military. That day came for Swain in 1946. From 1946-47, he worked as military police in Italy. “Where I was located in Italy was almost destroyed. People were hungry. People were dirty. People had no place to stay. They were staying under makeshift metal containers. And the hunger is something that impressed me much at that time that even right now, I try the best that I can each month to make contributions to some food-giving area where they give food to people who need it. I mean that is the mark it has made on my life, and I’ve done it since,” Swain said in an interview on WXFR-TV. His service to the country, helped him understood the importance of education especially as a Black man in Jim Crow America. He received his B.S. Degree in 1953 from Hampton Institute now Hampton University.

 After graduation from college, Swain re-enlisted. Swain had been such an outstanding student that he received a regular appointment as 2nd Lt. in the United States Army as an artillery officer. During his military career, Swain was detailed to the Counterintelligence Corps for three years. “When I got there, you could count the number of Black officers on one hand,” Swain was quoted as saying in an interview. His military accomplishments also included serving as a captain commanding a battery of 155 Howitzers at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. He jokingly said during the Cotton to Silk Oral History Project recorded in March 2019, “You could not tell me that I was not Gen. Patton.”

In his book “My American Journey,” the late Gen. Colin Powell described Lt. Swain as “Scrupulous but a fair officer.” Powell and Swain served together in the Vietnam War in 1968. Swain would retire from military service in 1971. Even after retirement, Swain said that he and Powell stayed in contact speaking over the phone often. 

Carroll Swain was a man of many talents, but also a man of discipline and a man who stood on what he believed. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity where he joined while a student at Hampton. Mr. Swain also served as assistant principal and guidance counselor in Roanoke City School until his retirement in 1992. He was a Roanoke City Council member where he served from 1996-20. He was a man who many described as someone who cared deeply about serving the people. 

He lived a life of action, a life that served humanity from the military to everyday conversations. He shared an abundance of exciting stories until his death on Dec. 31, 2021. Lt. Col. Carroll Swain, “The Colonel,” rest in peace brother.