Lt. Colonel John Woodell (Jack) U.S. Navy/U.S. Air Force 1944-1974

Lt. Colonel John (Jack) Woodell, of Brookneal, served his country in two braches of the U.S. Armed Services. First, he joined the U.S. Navy and served from 1944 - 1946, during World War II. He was assigned to a submarine chaser, a small and fast naval vessel, whose duty was to locate and destroy German U-boats (German submarines) in the Atlantic Ocean.

The famous actor, Ernest Borgnine, was a Gunner's Mate on the ship with Lt. Col. Woodell. He remembers Borgnine making other crew members very anxious by shooting the machine gun at passing sharks. " Everyone had to take cover to keep from being hit."

After being discharged from the U.S. Navy, he joined the U.S. Air Force and retired in 1974.