November’s Fort Taber flag to honor U.S. Navy Veteran Linden Sidney Worden

During the month of November, the 27th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of Linden Sidney Worden, who served during WWII as a Radioman 1st Class, aboard the USS Greene.

Worden was born in New Bedford, MA on February 6, 1923, the son of the late Robert and Ida (Faulkner) Worden, growing up on Mott Street in the South End of the city. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on October 1, 1942, leaving school to serve his country.

He attended the United States Naval Training Station in Newport, RI as well as completed a 16 week training course at the Massachusetts Radio & TE School in Boston, MA. He was then assigned to the USS Greene.
According to the website history.navy.mil, the USS Greene was commissioned on May 9, 1919 and launched on November 2, 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. in Quincy, MA. She was decommissioned on June 17, 1922.

The USS Greene was then recommissioned in June 1940. One week after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor; the AVD-13 sailed for Brazil. During the summer of 1942 she served as a seaplane tender. In January 1944, she was converted to a high speed transport, designated APD-36. After intensive training she took part in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, then serving as an escort in the Mediterranean, until departing in December for Norfolk, VA. Then in April 1945, the USS Greene escorted four carriers to Okinawa, while the battle of Okinawa raged. In October of 1945, the USS Greene was struck by a typhoon which grounded her beyond repair. She was decommissioned in November of that year.

Worden served three years, three months and eight days with the United States Navy and was honorably discharged in January 1946. He earned the following awards for his military service: WWII Victory Medal, American Theatre Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle East-Theatre Medal, the Amphibious Force Insignia, the Presidential Unit Citation (1 blue star) and the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Medal (1 bronze star).

Upon completing his military service, Worden worked in the retail business, including employment with Cumberland Farms for many years. He was a ham radio enthusiast as well as an avid reader, eventually retiring to West Palm Beach, Florida.

He passed away on August 9, 2021 following a long illness. He spent the last month of his life in Hinton, WV at the Bowers Hospice House, near his daughter, Lynne.

According to Worden’s son, Stephen, his father “literally sailed the world from the north Atlantic to the South Pacific. His unit received a Presidential Unit Citation for escorting merchant ships through German U-Boat infested waters and participating in the capture of a German submarine. He was the last surviving crew member of the USS Greene.” Stephen proudly describes his father as a very “humble man and a great father.”

Linden Worden is survived by his son Stephen Worden and wife Kelly of New Bedford, MA; two daughters, Marilyn McKillop and husband James of Walpole, MA and Lynne Bauer and husband John of Hinton, WV; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Rhea (Aubut) Worden who passed away in 1999 and his brother Robert Worden.

Linda Ferreira, of Empire Ford of New Bedford, researches the life histories of area residents. American flags are provided by Empire Ford of New Bedford. Flags are raised by the staff at Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum. Those who would like to honor a local veteran in the future can contact Ferreira at lferreira@buyempireautogroup.com.