Glenn Kenworthy commemorated on anniversary of USS Indianapolis sinking
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Glenn Kenworthy was a Kokomo Firefighter in the early 1940s, where he served to protect the community. But he had a greater calling. He chose to defend the nation and enlisted in the U.S. Marines.
It was 1943. World War II gripped the planet. And Kenworthy stepped up to serve. He was aboard the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, just days after the warship delivered the components used in the atomic bombs that eventually would be dropped on Japan. Sadly, the ship never made it home.
A Japanese submarine engaged the Indianapolis and fired torpedoes, sinking the ship. Kenworthy was among the roughly 1,200 servicemen who perished in the attack.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, the Kokomo Fire Department held a ceremony in Kenworthy’s honor at Fire Station No. 1 on July 19. Dozens of military veterans, firefighters, and members of the Kenworthy family gathered to remember the Kokomo native who gave his all for freedom.
Fire Chief Paul Edwards welcomed those in attendance and began the convocation by recounting the words of KFD's "unofficial historian" Joe Windsor, made in an interview about Kenworthy with the Kokomo Perspective in 1998.
“My grandfather had a cottage on a lake, and Glenn would come up and fish and hunt,” Windsor had said. “He liked ball games. He was just an ordinary guy.
“I'm not sure if Glenn volunteered or was drafted, but he left behind a wife and two kids. He probably could have gotten out of going to the war. There were a lot of guys who suddenly developed flat feet, but Glenn wanted to be where it was happening.”
Edwards characterized Kenworthy as “what is greatest about the American spirit.” And then explained that a photo of Kenworthy in his Marine uniform hung in the original Station No. 1 until the construction of the current station along Superior Street.
“It hung in a stairwell, and when the department made the transition to this building, that picture was thrown in the dumpster,” said Edwards.
Fortunately, Windsor intervened. He discovered the discarded photo and retrieved it from the dumpster. It then was hung in the hallway at Station No. 1, where someone eventually noticed that Kenworthy’s military history was attached to the back of the photo.
Restored and mounted on a new display, the photo was presented to Kenworthy's family, and a plaque commemorating all of the Kokomo Firefighters who have served in the military was unveiled. The plaque will hang in Fire Station No. 1.
Additionally, the fire department will affix a commemorative decal on each of its firefighting apparatuses in Kenworthy’s honor.
Mayor Tyler Moore followed Edwards to make a proclamation in Kenworthy’s honor and made sure to thank the family for their sacrifice.
“The Kokomo Fire Department has a rich history of men and women who not only have gone above and beyond serving their community, but likewise, to serve their country,” said Moore. “We have many of those still on the department today, and not only do they on a daily basis, sacrifice for community and for country, but the families do as well.
“Every chance we get, particularly when we're swearing in a new recruitment class, we not only thank those recruits, the men and women, for the service and the sacrifice they're getting ready to make, but we recognize and thank the families as well. So, on behalf of a grateful city, I thank the Kenworthy family for your sacrifice.”
Other speakers included retired Air Force Col. Frank Faulkner, who recounted the final moments of the USS Indianapolis and the harrowing experience that faced the survivors of that attack. And then Sen. Victoria Spartz spoke to the crowd.
“A lot of times, we talk about freedom,” said Spartz. “It is never free, but it is shown to us how much has been sacrificed for us. We have to be worthy of this sacrifice. We have to remember that is our duty to carry on this torch of freedom, and we have to remember that we're doing it for them. Our country is free because we have brave, brave Americans willing to go and put their life on the line.”
Bill Ralston, a representative of AMVETS 27 in Russiaville, explained the motivation that stirs in the hearts of those who chose to serve in the military, proposing that this same drive is what possessed Kenworthy to serve as he did.
“If you look around at public service throughout the U.S., most veterans end up getting into public service,” said Ralston. “We volunteer and join the military, and then we do it again. We volunteer again to help support the communities we live in.
“What is a veteran? A veteran, whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserved, is someone who at some point in his life wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount of up to and including his or her own life.”