Retired Col. Clifford Worthy is the great-grandson of slaves. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was raised in Hamtramck, Michigan. Clifford Worthy was one of the first African Americans who was accepted and excelled as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating June 2, 1953. He married Lillian Elizabeth Davis on the day after his graduation and went on to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army from 1953 through 1975. He served as an Artillery officer in American posts, in Germany during the Cold War and in Vietnam just after the Tet Offensive. He participated in Operation Gyroscope after World War II and served as Battalion Commander and Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army. Clifford and Lillian had three children: Kym, Jennifer and Mark who grew up with special needs.