Jesse Bartley-Carney

Jesse Eugene Thomas Bartley-Carney, 70, of Wilsonville, Oregon, died at 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, at his home in Wilsonville.

Born Jesse Eugene Thomas Carney in Van Wert, Ohio, on Aug. 26, 1945, to banker Thomas Carney and public accountant Martha Miller Black of Cairo, Illinois, and Findlay Ohio. Bartley attended Randolph Macon Military Academy in Virginia, then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on Oct. 1, 1964, after his oldest stepbrother, John Peter Bartley (CPT USAF 1st SOW Sqdn), died in air combat in Vietnam.

Bartley (service serial number 21003685) was first assigned to the Fleet, on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, specializing in Russian and Vietnamese. He volunteered multiple times for combat duty and finally got it, serving as a rifleman with the 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, and I Corps during the siege of Da Nang.

After his first hitch was completed Sept. 11, 1968, Bartley was active in the Reserves while in college at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and was injured on the Tamiami Trail en route to Coral Gables for Reserve duty. Although that forbade further service as a combat marine, Bartley persevered, earned his BS in Criminology from USF, then re-enlisted on July 27, 1981, this time with the Silent Service of the Navy in Charleston South Carolina, where he was an RM3 on the George S. Bancroft (SSBN-643) and the Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624).

Further injuries occurred in service, and Bartley accepted a medical retirement to civilian life on April 15, 1985, to write and work on various projects dear to his heart while overcoming his 90 percent service-related disability. He was active with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the USCG Power Squadrons and the Marine Corps League in Florida, North Carolina, Connecticut and then in Oregon, where he also served on the Marine Corps Coordinating Council and was a member of the Military Order of the Devil Dogs.

He died on the morning of Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, as a result of Agent Orange exposure while serving his country in Vietnam. He is survived by his brother, John Edward Bartley III of Wilsonville; his aunt, Fluanna "Cissy" Tiedke of Seal Beach, California; and his cousin, Judith Maria Molinari of Houston. He survived his parents and stepfather, John Edward Bartley II, Esq., of Toledo, Ohio; his stepbrothers, CPT John Peter Bartley USAF (dec.) of San Antonio and Stephen Cope Bartley of Illinois; and his sister, Martha Ann "Marty" Bartley Britto of Naples, Florida.

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Beechwood Cemetery. Friends are asked to meet at cemetery. Military services will be conducted by American Legion Post #178 and the Illinois Honor Guard.

In lieu of flowers, please buy more ammunition for your GTH bag.

Crain Funeral Home in Cairo in charge of arrangements.

To view the full obituary or to leave an online condolence for the family, visit crainsonline.com.