20-year-old Magnus David Penkava, the son of a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputy, was raised in Southern Oregon and joined the Navy in the summer of 2020. He passed away in late April of 2022.
In honor of his return home, and before he’ll be laid to rest at the Veteran’s National Cemetery in Eagle Point, 25 local law enforcement vehicles escorted the fallen servicemember back to Southern Oregon over the weekend.
Penkava’s family released the following statement:
Magnus David Penkava, February 20, 2002 – April 29th, 2022. He was raised in Southern Oregon and joined the Navy in July of 2020 to be a Submariner and eventually a Navy SEAL because he always said he was tougher than his Marine Corps veteran dad, and SEALs were tougher than Marines. Magnus graduated from Basic Training at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois on September 11, 2020, before attending Naval Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut where he received honors for being class leader. After graduating from Submarine School, Magnus was awarded his first-choice duty station of Bangor, Washington and was assigned to the USS Nevada, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine.
A funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, at the Eagle Point National Cemetery.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office did not comment as to the cause of death.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.