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BEHIND THE STRIPES

FMF Corpsman, Joe Worley

By Atlanta United FC

September 7^th, 2020

Nothing beats simple acts of kindness and pushing yourself to be a better person. No matter if you’re having a bad day or good day, sharing human moments of compassion for another and getting up and working toward goals are some of the best gifts life has to offer.

For vet Joe Worley, these are how Worley continues the legacy of those who aren’t here anymore through his day-to-day life, especially today on Labor Day.

“I try to make sure I make time focusing on myself, growing and building myself because there’s a lot of guys that I served with that cannot,” Worley expressed.

Worley served for the Navy from 2003 to 2006. During his time, he deployed to Iraq during the War on Terror. He was a Navy Corpsman where he worked with a lot of Marines and helped others as they were hurt and met a lot of people who touched his life. For Worley, those people made him who he is today. His story wouldn’t be complete without sharing theirs.

During his deployment, the first loss he experienced was on March 26, 2004. They lost Leroy Sandoval.

“It was the first person we lost in combat, who had a serious life-ending injury,” Joe shared. “We had a few close calls. Losing our guy Sandoval, who was a machine gunner, was my first taste of what all of this was going to be like. That set the tone. We had a couple more incidents during that deployment.”

After experiencing that, Worley knew what deployment was going to be like, but Worley always tried to make other laughs and have a positive attitude. One special person he served with was their interpreter, Sammi. One day, he and Joe were chatting about their favorite foods. Joe said it was pizza. Telling Sammi that simple fact compelled him to bring Joe pizza from Baghdad on Sammi's leave.

“It was possibly the nicest gift a human has ever given me in my entire life,” Worley shared with appreciation. “That moment where he handed me that pizza. That was the nicest human experience I could’ve had over there. I guess I needed it. I needed to experience humanity again. You see so much over there.”

Needless to say, Sammi’s simple act of kindness touched him forever. He was so grateful for him.

Days later was Labor Day, September 6, 2004. This Labor Day would mark one of the hardest days in Worley’s life. He lost most of his second squad to a suicide bomber in a vehicle IED.

“In the night, if I have bad dreams that’s what I think about. We are coming up on it,” Joe said reflectively. “It’s crazy how my subconscious is. I’m catching myself thinking more, praying more, being more retrospective. You know some ways it sneaks up on me.”

11 days later, Worley lost part of his leg in an IED explosion, which caused him to have a prosthetic leg from the knee down and sustained damage to his right knee and foot. While Joe was driving back with someone who needed more than 40 stitches, another one of their vehicles in front of them got hit, and Worley jumped out to help the others. Shortly after, he was hit next.

“I remember going up in the air when the IED went off and landing face down,” Worley said. “I remember thinking I was dead. Not because I'm pessimistic, in my mind, it just seemed like a logical thing to assume that I would not survive one of those on foot.”

As Worley laid there, he looked down to see his leg.

“My left leg was demolished, and it was hanging by a thread. My right leg was pretty messed up,” Joe said. “My marines called me in as KIA (killed in action) initially. I was able to roll over and put a tourniquet on my left side and dressing on my right side and shot myself with morphine. They asked me if I wanted to fly a helicopter or to drive me back. I didn’t know if the helicopter could land, and if anything went wrong with the helicopter, I knew that would for sure kill me, so I said let’s go ahead and drive back.”

As they drove back, Worley’s buddy was driving. They approached traffic, and he wasn’t going to let his guy sit there in the back in traffic, so they decided to take some trails for the last 10 minutes of their ride. While driving back, Worley still was helping someone else who was hurt while someone else was working on him. Even when he was about to lose his leg, he still served his fellow Marines.

“Doc Meany worked on me in the back, and I was working on Lewis who didn’t need a lot but it helped me keep my mind going,” Joe shared.

After they arrived, Worley had a number of surgeries and was sent home to Maryland to Bethesda Naval Hospital and eventually to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received his therapy. Once his family heard the news that he was going to be there, his mom, dad, wife, sister and new 3-month-old baby girl he hadn’t met yet came to see him. Worley sat there with a pin of his daughter on his cargo pants with a photo of his daughter and tried to soak the blood off under his fingernails as he waited for them.

Seeing and holding his family and new daughter was exactly what Worley needed to make it through the dozens of surgeries and trials he was soon going to face.

“That was the boost I needed to make it through the toughest thing I’d go through physically and maybe mentally if it wasn’t for Labor Day when I lost all my guys,” Worley said. “That was the toughest thing I’d been through mentally and spiritually, but with that having time with my family was great.”

After the surgeries and coming off all the meds, the healing didn’t stop. He had to deal emotionally and mentally with everything he went through in Iraq.

He started by dealing with those emotions, joining groups and getting involved with others who had been through the same situations. He went to a group where they had dinners together and even had game nights or retreats together. Being a part of those groups helped him get through all the PTSD and struggles he faced. On one of those retreats, he met someone who had a beautiful chocolate lab in this hotel conference room. He asked the owner who he was. It was Deuce, a facility dog from America’s VetDog.

“He said ‘Deuce, come’ and his whole demeanor changed,” Worley said with amazement. “It was like watching the dog from Air Bud or Lassie. He ran Deuce through some other tasks. I asked him about America’s VetDogs, and I put in an application within a month.”

Soon after his application they did a series of interviews with him, then, finally a year later, they called him to tell him his dog was ready—a beautiful golden labrador, Benjamin. Benjamin helped Worley out of his wheelchair.

“I didn’t go out in public often. You get to a point you don’t want to push or try anymore,” Worley shared. “Benjamin pulled me out of my wheelchair. He got me walking again. I got help that I didn’t feel guilty about asking. He’d walked himself to death for me. It made a bigger difference in the world to me.”

Not only did Worley get out of his chair, he started getting into the gym and competing for body-building competitions. Benjamin changed his life. After Benjamin retired, he also got Galaxie who currently is his service dog.

“Benjamin was the best flipping, sweetest, hardest working dog I’ve ever met,” Worley said with love. “I’ve never met a service dog that got so fired up when you put his vest on. I got him in October 2008. He just passed away this past October, which I’m not afraid to say it hit me like a ton of bricks. I probably cried on and off three days hard. That was rough.”

After having two dogs from America’s VetDogs, his testimony for America’s VetDogs grew, and he started working with them.

“I do everything from public speaking to helping them raise money through VSOs (Veteran Service Organizations) ,” Worley said. “I talk to puppy raisers who are working their tails off for us and helping us raise these animals. I don’t know what it’s like to raise a puppy and just hand it to somebody because these dogs are changing people’s lives.”

Worley had an opportunity to help with Atlanta United when they started the journey to get Spike our America’s VetDog in training.

“I had the opportunity to go to two games, and holy cow, it’s fun to go to!” Worley shared with enthusiasm. “I love when the game starts. You get some food and you’re not starving by the end of it, and you can go out to eat when you’re done because soccer games are the perfect length.”

Worley now is in the 5-Stripe family. He helps with any events with Spike and helps Lyndsee, Spike’s puppy raiser. He loves ATL UTD.

“I would say Atlanta United represents the unity and commonality everyone in Georgia has,” Worley said with a smile. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to get together to share something that represents hard work and love for our city.”

Though Worley went through his trials, he wouldn’t be where he was without them. Now, he gets to pay it forward by sharing his story and helping other veterans and first responders through America’s VetDogs. His positive attitude and smile about life makes everyone he meets feel special, and uses his life to make a difference the way some of his fallen brothers cannot.

Today’s a hard day for Worley, but he chooses to find happiness.

“People think the worst thing for me was losing my leg, but it absolutely was not,” Worley said with his heart. “I hardly think of the day that I got hurt unless I’m thinking about Sammi or Ebert. Labor Day, the day I didn’t get hurt, but I lost all of my guys that was… at night if I have bad dreams that’s what I think about.”

He carries on the legacy of Sammi, Chris, Leroy and many others. He remembers them always, and keeps their spirit and legacy alive through sharing happiness with others. He’s a true hero and we’re happy he’s in our 5-Stripe family. He embodies some of the core values of ATL UTD with his determination, giving back to others and striving for excellence even while dealing with his hardships.

Thank you for your service, Joe! We appreciate you! - Atlanta United

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