Always a fan of the water, Joe Woodbury dreamed of joining the US Coast Guard. During his freshman year in college in 1971, he said, “The draft was a big deal.” With that fervor he and his best friend, Fred, decided to enlist, but Fred wanted to join the Army National Guard. The recruitment officer promised they’d be able to serve together if they joined at the same time. Since they were both 17, they needed their parents’ approval. Joe’s parents quickly signed his application and it was submitted.

“I was excited to receive my notice that I was to report to Fort Campbell Kentucky,” Joe said. “And I quickly called my friend to see if he had gotten his letter yet.” But Fred’s parents hadn’t signed his application, so he never actually joined the Army and Joe went off to Kentucky alone.

After finishing basic training, Joe returned to college and earned his degree in education. With the Troops to Teachers program, Joe became a middle school teacher.

“The program was meant to give military members preference in hiring, although there was a teacher shortage then just like there is now, so it didn’t matter,” he laughed.

Joe became a Field Artillery Officer in the Army National Guard. He was deployed in the 1990s during Desert Storm, but at that time, he was working for the Army as a photojournalist. He would follow and report on troops so their families and communities back home would have news and photos of how they were doing. Joe went wherever the troops were sent, and he spent time in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

“One of my fondest memories was traveling through the Middle East when one of my fellow officers was a college professor of religious history,” Joe said. “This friend knew amazing facts about all of the places we traveled, and it just came alive for me.”

Later Joe was sent on smaller deployments, such as the REFORGER campaign returning forces to Germany—a NATO military exercise during the Cold War. He also went with his unit to Honduras as a backup for troops in Panama when control of the Panama Canal was returned to Panama in 1999.  

Joe retired from the Army National Guard after 26 years of service. But he quickly joined the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, which is a civilian, uniformed volunteer component of the Coast Guard. In that capacity, he was deployed many times, including a memorable trip where he was able to circumnavigate the entire North American continent.

“We traveled on an icebreaker with stops in Greenland, Canada, Baltimore, and Mexico. We went through the Panama Canal, around California and up to Seattle. We had an extended stay in the Arctic Ocean where polar bears would follow along beside us in the ice.”

Another memorable experience was when Joe was able to travel from Florida to New York City as part of Fleet Week. This annual celebration in New York honors the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard with active-duty military ships docking in the city, public ship tours, live military band performances, and a dramatic “Parade of Ships” up the Hudson River.

“I was on a national security cutter called The Hamilton. We went right past Fort Hamilton, a US Army Installation in near Brooklyn. We put on our dress uniforms and saluted as we went by,” Joe said.

Joe’s love of boating began when he was a child. His parents bought a summer lake house in Massachusetts the year he was born. He remembers summers spent boating on the lake and winters ice skating across it. The family owned a variety of boats through the years; in addition to a few speed boats, they also had one of the first versions of a pontoon.

“When the pontoon style first came out, we went through two of those,” Joe remembered. “They were perfect for a family to spend time on the lake.”

Now in his retirement years, Joe still loves boating. He spends time in his Bennington SLi on Lake Wateree in South Carolina. He and his wife Barbara also own a 55-foot Jamestowner houseboat. They’ll spend a few weeks at a time on the boat for a change of scenery. Joe said, “I love sleeping on the water on the houseboat and driving the pontoon all the way out into the main water.”

But he still finds multiple ways to be involved with veterans. Joe currently serves as a Veterans Honor Guard, giving military honors at veteran funerals at the Florence National Cemetery. In his dress uniform, he rotates between being on the rifle team firing the volleys of a military salute, playing taps, or explaining the significance of the 13 folds of the flag to the family.

The experience is incredibly meaningful to Joe. He explained, “I just think it’s so important that these veterans are not forgotten. They deserve that last salute.”

Joe has also found the perfect way to share his love of boating with the veteran friends he serves with as part of the Honor Guard. Sometimes when he can’t do a funeral, he’ll mention it’s because he’s out on the boat. His friends started angling for an invitation to do some fishing, and Barbara wanted to meet some of the other spouses.

“My wife and I just decided to invite them all over!” Joe laughed. “We host a summer social with the Honor Guard and their spouses where we have a luncheon and get to socialize. We take the pontoon out and let anyone who wants to take a turn driving. A bunch of us enjoy fishing and we usually land a few catfish. It’s worked out so well.”

From around-the-world deployments to honoring veterans to building a community of fellow servicemen, Joe is an outstanding example of giving lifelong service to his country and fellow men.