Kenneth Lee Worley was a Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam for sacrificing his own life when he threw himself on a grenade to save the lives of several fellow Marines.  Worley was born on April 27, 1948, in Farmington, New Mexico, and completed the 8th grade at Farmington Elementary School in 1962.  After being orphaned he moved to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and attended Hot Spring High School there for two years.  He moved to Modesto, California, at age sixteen to live with an aunt.  The conditions there were poor for Worley as he lived in a travel trailer with no running water or electricity.  Instead of going to school he worked as a truck driver, hauling loads of Christmas trees out of the mountains.  After injuring his foot at work he was taken in by a couple in Modesto.  They treated him like a son and became his foster parents.  Worley enlisted in the Marine Corps in Fresno, California, on June 14, 1967, and received recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California.  Upon completion of recruit training in August 1967, Private Worley was transferred to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California, and underwent individual combat training with Company R, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Training Regiment, and basic infantry training with the 2nd Infantry Training Regiment, completing the latter in October.  He was promoted to Private First Class on November 1, 1967, and later that month was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam.  Assigned to the  3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, he served consecutively as a rifleman with Company I, with Headquarters and Service Company, and with Company L.  He was promoted to Lance Corporal on May 1, 1968.  While serving as a machine gunner with Company L on August 12, 1968, he was killed in action, saving five fellow Marines by his actions.

LCPL Worley is buried in Westminster Memorial Park, Westminster, California, where his gravestone carries the inscription: VIETNAM – MEDAL OF HONOR – PURPLE HEART.

MEDAL  OF  HONOR  CITATION

The President of the United States, in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to Lance Corporal Kenneth L. Worley, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Machine Gunner with Company L, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam.  After establishing a night ambush position in a house in the Bo Ban Hamlet of Quang Nam Province, security was set up and the remainder of the patrol members retired until their respective watch.  During the early morning hours of 12 August 1968, the Marines were abruptly awakened by the platoon leader's warning that "Grenades" had landed in the house.  Fully realizing the inevitable result of his actions, Lance Corporal Worley, in a valiant act of heroism instantly threw himself upon the grenade nearest him and his comrades, absorbing with his own body, the full and tremendous force of the explosion.  Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from serious injury and possible loss of life although five of his fellow Marines incurred minor wounds as the other grenades exploded.  Lance Corporal Worley's gallant actions upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.  He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)