Retired U.S. Army veteran, father of four wins new car

Retired U.S. Army veteran and father of four Andrew Modica got a nice surprise Friday. He won a brand new car.

Retired U.S. Army veteran Andrew Modica recently won a new car.

Andrew Modica, who lives near Woodbine, won the new 2018 Hyundai Sonata SCL through a Hyundai of Somerset promotional flier that he got in the mail.

At first he thought it might have been a scam, but brought it down to a tent sale the dealership was having in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Wal-Mart. He thought he would probably just end up getting a $5 Wal-Mart gift card, but instead found out he was really getting a new car.

“I don’t think I have ever been this excited. I have never won anything this big. It is really a life changer,” Modica said.

Hyundai of Somerset owner Chuck Coldiron said that he was truly excited for Modica’s whole family.

“Any time somebody has served our country in the military and is the proud parent of four children, I can’t think of anybody that I would rather see be rewarded with a free car than someone like this gentleman,” Coldiron said.

Modica served in the U.S. Army for 20 years before retiring. He did tours oversees in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now working part-time as a custodian at the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Service.

Modica said that the car would help him and his family get around better. Currently he has a work truck and the family has a Dodge Dakota minivan that is “starting to make noise.”

The new car “is a lot nicer than any vehicle I have got,” he noted.

Modica said that a road trip might be in the near future for him, his wife of nearly 20 years, and his four children, who range in age from nearly three years old to one that will soon be turning 13 years old.

The car is essentially an early birthday present for Modica, who has a birthday on July 31, and his wife, Stacy, who has birthday on Aug. 7.

“She will probably be getting it for her birthday,” he noted.

Stacy Modica said that it would probably be a “family” vehicle.

“We’ll share,” she noted. “It is really exciting. I never imagined that would happen.”

Ricky Thomas, general manager, said this is the fourth vehicle that Hyundai of Somerset has given away in the last seven years.

“We sent out these mailers to several households in surrounding areas. They bring it in and check their numbers and his number won so he was the lucky winner,” Thomas said.

Thomas added that it was “an absolute honor” to give away a vehicle to a veteran, such as Modica.