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United States Marine Corps

Photo courtesy Andrew Harris

Comsewogue High School alum Jair Lopez, Class of 2022, became a United States Marine on Dec. 2, and returned to Comsewogue High School on Wednesday, Dec. 7. 

Lopez was welcomed by a crowd of students, teachers and staff. “There was so much love and respect displayed by all of our Comsewogue Warriors for him,” said Jennifer Quinn, superintendent of schools. 

Lopez recently graduated in June. When he spoke, he thanked his teachers for not giving up on him and keeping him pointed in the right direction.

Then 12-year-old Randall Woodard, Gilbert Kinner and New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt in Port Jeff in 1932. Photo from Warren Woodard

By Alex Petroski

Randall E. Woodard died Dec. 25, Christmas morning, at 8:10 a.m. He had pneumonia for two weeks and died at the hospital in Riverhead. He was 97 years old.

Woodard sat for an interview with TBR News Media in December to share a story about the time he met former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Port Jefferson in 1932 and was photographed at just 11 years old on a sailboat in Port Jefferson Harbor with the soon-to-be president. Woodard gave other biographical details about his life.

He was born Sept 3, 1920, at 104 Prospect St. in Port Jefferson opposite the First Baptist Church, where later he would become the bell ringer.

Woodard and his family owned several sailboats and fishing boats through the years. In 1936, Randall and his older brothers, twins Martin and Merwin, finished tied for first among 2,000 other competitors worldwide for the Snipe Class International championship. Through the decades he often competed in races and experienced more-than-modest levels of success.

After graduating from Port Jefferson High School in 1938, Woodard attended The Citadel military college in South Carolina.

Randall Woodard and his wife Barbara aboard the family sailboat. Photo from Warren Woodard

He graduated from The Citadel with a degree in civil engineering, and then went on to serve as a Seabee officer — a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion. The Seabees, as they were called — a play on “CB” for Construction Battalion — were deployed to Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack to reconstruct damaged bulkheads, dredge the ocean floor to allow ships passage and assemble barges and causeways in preparation for an amphibious attack, according to Woodard. During his training prior to deployment while stationed in Rhode Island, Woodard was aboard the world’s largest sea tow, which was an experimental floating airfield slated for assembly in Alaska. The airfield was ultimately not needed, and broken-up pieces were used during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.

He was part of a mission that headed to a series of islands in the Pacific near Japan in May 1944, weeks before the beaches were stormed in Normandy. Nine days after D-Day, aboard a craft carrying four barges, Woodard was responsible for overseeing the U.S. Marine Corps invading Saipan, a Japanese-held island. Woodard and the Seabees contributed to the mission by using the barges to unload ammunition, gasoline and other supplies.

After the victory over Japan, he spent six months at Navy Department Bureau of Yards and Docks in Washington D.C., where he met Barbara Brown, whom he later married. Woodard was in the Navy reserves for about 15 years.

When he returned home, Woodard worked for years as a civil engineer. In the 1950s he was the resident engineer overseeing a series of contracts to construct the Northern State and Sunken Meadow parkways, and said he was responsible for the construction of all of the parkway overpasses in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

He is survived by his wife Barbara Woodard, of Port Jefferson; daughter Tracy Woodard Wyncoop of Lebanon, New Hampshire; sons Terry Randall Woodard of Port Jeff and Warren Woodard of Calverton; his grandsons Eric Randall Michaels and David Randall Woodard; and three great grandchildren.

The Woodard family has decided to have a service in the spring or summer at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port Jeff. The date and time will be announced in the near future. Services will be entrusted to Bryant Funeral Home of East Setauket.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gregory Moore and his wife Elissa watch their new roof being installed by All Pro Remodeling, with materials donated by Owens Corning. Photo by Alex Petroski

By Alex Petroski

It’s impossible to adequately thank military members and their families for their sacrifices, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

The Port Jefferson Station-based company All Pro Remodeling teamed up with manufacturer Owens Corning to provide veteran Gregory Moore and his family with a new roof for their home on Sandpiper Lane in Coram Nov. 1. All Pro supplied the labor free of charge and Owens Corning donated the materials as part of their Roof Deployment Project. The 501(c)(3) charity Support Our Troops assisted in selecting the Moores.

“I’ve heard of things like this, but it never happened to me,” Moore said. “I was always grateful for any veteran getting help, because there’s a lot of veterans in need that are too proud to say they need a roof, a car, or any help because we were raised like that — to be independent. So when things like this happen to me, it’s just amazing.”

Moore, 39, and his wife Elissa have lived in the home for five years with their two sons — Dana, 15, and Mason, 10. Moore served in the United States Marine Corps for eight years and currently works out of MacArthur Airport as a member of the National Guard.

He said his roof had several leaks and the family was already budgeting to repair it in the near future. Moore and his wife both recounted the moment he broke the news to her over the phone. Understandably, there were tears.

“It means a lot — it debunks all of the stories out there that we don’t appreciate our veterans, because we do.”

— Elissa Moore

“It means a lot — it debunks all of the stories out there that we don’t appreciate our veterans, because we do. There are a lot of programs out there that benefit military families. It shows that military families are appreciated. The sacrifices that are made, it affects not only the soldier, but the family as well.”

All Pro Remodeling owner Mike Hughes said he’s had this idea for some time.

“This is the first time I’m doing something like this,” he said. “I always wanted to, I just didn’t have the means. This year it worked out, so I was happy to give back and help a veteran.”

Moore said he has some plans for the money they’d been saving now that the roof no longer needs fixing. The couple plans to bring their son Dana to visit the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, and they’ll also be renovating a bathroom in their home.

“Thank you to Owens Corning and All Pro,” Moore said. It’s awesome. I’m very grateful for it.”

Owens Corning sales manager for the North East region Joe Russo embraced the importance of taking care of veterans.

“It’s something that makes me proud of my company, that they support military families,” he said. “They’re the ones that protect our freedom and it makes me feel good that we can do something like this.”