The Mystery Marine
by Bruce Salisbury
It has been almost a year since Farmington, New
Mexico found out about Kenneth Lee Worley. People
were really excited to learn that a young Marine who was
born in Farmington sixty one years ago had been
awarded the congressional Medal Of Honor for his bravery in combat.
Worley died Aug. 12, 1968 in Bo Han Hamlet, Quang
Nam Province, Vietnam “in a valiant act of heroism, (he) instantly threw himself upon the grenade nearest his comrades, absorbing with his body the full and tremendous force of the explosion”, his medal citation states.
Kenneth Lee Worley has been an unknown and unsung hero these last four decades.
Kenneth’s mother died when he was a year and a half old and he stayed with family members and uncles and cousins while he lived the life of a small boy in the oilfield town of Farmington. While life was probably hard, the little boy played the usual games with his friends and schoolmates and finished the eighth grade in Farmington. At that time he is known to have gone to Hot Springs, New Mexico and schooled for a time there.
Please support this site. Any amount is appreciated-Thanks!
Ken changed his last name, taking the name of
“Worley” for himself and I am told that was
because his sister married a man named Worley
who Kenneth admired. When Kenneth went to
California he lived with an aunt for a time, but
seems to have been mostly on his own. He
was injured while working as a truck driver and
because he was living in a little trailer with no
lights, no heat, and no water, he was taken in
by a family named Feyerman. The Feyermans
liked Worley and considered him to be their ninth
child. Kenneth has a son named Robert who
hopes to one day come to Farmington, New
Mexico to see a memorial dedicated to his father.
When Kenneth joined the US Marine Corps he
was doing what many young people do. None of
them expect to be killed, but that is a hazard of
military service.
When the family was notified of Ken’s death he was buried at Westminster Memorial Gardens in Westminster, California. The gravesite was provided at no cost and three years later the Bronze was placed on his gravestone citing his Medal Of Honor. The military seems to have forgotten about him for forty years, until his story came to light.
The Marine Corps League and others are hoping to have a proper memorial built in the town where Kenneth was born and I have always wanted a bronze honoring the young man.
The twenty fifth of March is National Medal Of Honor Day,
and perhaps his name will be mentioned on that day. Kenneth
is unknown because he changed his name, but I feel that many
of us make the decision to have a different last name. Two of my grandchildren changed their name to Salisbury when they grew
up, to honor their grandparents and their mother’s family. Kenneth changed his name for his own reasons.
Yes I do know what Kenneth’s birth name was, but in the history of the United States Of America and in the US Marine Corps archives he will forever be Lance Corporal Kenneth Lee Worley, Congressional Medal Of Honor recipient.
Worley’s story is a work in progress and I will continue to share it with The Veterans Voice. Perhaps some day his body will rest in that Corner of New Mexico where he grew up, but for darn sure, there are many more people out there now who want him to be remembered and honored for his supreme sacrifice.
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty."- Abraham Lincoln
May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr
Call Your Senator Or Representative
Toll Free:
800-828-0498,
800-459-1887
and 800-614-2803
LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION AND VOTING
"THE VETERANS' VOICE" is an independent publication dedicated to printing the truth, adhereing to facts and promoting the well-being of our Veterans and their families.
To keep the news coming to our veterans we need you.
Please advertise or subscribe today! Subscriptions are $15 per 12 issues.
Mail check or money order payable to:
THE VETERANS' VOICE
888-826-3215
For information on advertising
please contact us at:
THE VETERANS' VOICE
Box 933, 200-1/2 S. Hubbard St., Plains MT 59859
"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail. Without it nothing can succeed.
He who molds opinion is greater than he who enacts laws."-Abraham Lincoln
All contents of this site are reserved, and may not be
used without the permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed by contributing writers are expressly their own and may or may not represent the opinions of The Veterans' Voice, its editorial staff or its publisher. Reprint inquiries should be directed to the author of the article or the editor. TheVeterans' Voice is not affiliated with any service, organization, or alphabet agency. The Veterans' Voice is not supported by any political organization. The Veterans' Voice is a group of non-compensated, independent Veteran writers bringing common sense, fact-based commentary to Veterans.
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
-- John Adams (Address to the Military, 11 October 1798)
Find out how loyal career Military, PHS and NOAA personnel are punished by
The Order of the Silver Rose
Honoring Victims
of Agent Orange
Illnesses & Deaths
with Gratis Medal -
Vietnam Veterans
Subscribe Today! Monthly Print Issue
12 Issues - $15.00
Mt. KIAMIA
Veterans can find out information about using their VA Benefits including the VA Loan benefit.
Important information for veterans: asbestos-containing products such as insulation or floor & ceiling tiles were often used on military ships and within military housing, and veterans may have been unknowingly exposed. Prior exposure to asbestos is the only determined cause of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that has no known cure and strikes countless veterans and their families. For more information regarding asbestos exposure in the military and support for veterans, please visit Mesothelioma.com
I once said, "We will bury you," and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you. Nikita Khrushchev
MWDTSA Military Working Dog
Team Support Association, Inc.
Ken, age 5(left) & cousin, being
typical little boys
