Herbert Field Woodbury – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps

From a contemporary press report:

Herbert Field Woodbury, 82, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who was an administrator at Control Data Corp. in Rockville, Maryland,  from 1962 to 1977, died of a cardiovascular disorder July 19, 2000 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital.

At Control Data, he was manager of administration in its professional services division. His duties included overseeing government and commercial contract administration.

Colonel Woodbury was a native of East Providence, Rhode Island, and a graduate of the University of Rhode Island at Kingston, Armed Forces Staff College and Strategic Intelligence School. He received a master’s degree in education from George Washington University.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940 and did intelligence work during World War II in the Pacific, where he also participated in the assault on the Mariana and Leyte islands in the Philippines.

After the war, he was an intelligence instructor at the Marine Corps school at Quantico Marine Base, and his later assignments included assistant Naval attache in Turkey. His final assignment was assistant to the president of the tactics and techniques board at the Marine Corps Landing Force Development Center at Quantico.

Colonel Woodbury’s military decorations included the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with combat “V” medals.

His memberships included the Marine Corps Association and Retired Officers Association.

Col. Woodbury had settled in the Washington area about 1960, moved to North Carolina in 1977 and returned to the area in 1993. At his death, he lived at the Fairfax retirement community at Fort Belvoir.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Mary Jane Smith Woodbury of Fort Belvoir; a daughter, Susan Woodbury Ricci of Clifton; a sister; and a grandson.

WOODBURY, HERBERT FIELD ”Woody” (Age 82)
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)

On Wednesday, July 19, 2000, at Mt. Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, devoted and loving husband of Jane Smith Woodbury; loving father of Susan Woodbury Ricci; and proud grandfather of Michael Adrian Ricci. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2000, at Ft. Myer in the Old Post Chapel. Interment will follow at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hospice of Northern Virginia.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard