WVU medical student and former Navy SEAL to speak at annual Pearl Harbor Day event

WHAT: The West Virginia University Center for Veteran, Military and Family Programs will welcome active-duty service members, ROTC students, veterans and community members to observe Pearl Harbor Day and honor the lives lost on Dec. 7, 1941, during the annual campus ceremony.

WHEN: Friday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m.

WHERE: USS West Virginia mast and bell, Oglebay Hall, Downtown area of campus

NOTES: The public is invited to attend.

Brentyn Jones, a Pat Tillman Scholar, current WVU medical student, and former U.S. Navy SEAL and Special Operations Combat Medic, will be the keynote speaker at the Pearl Harbor Day ceremony. The Spokane, Washington, native served on active duty for nearly nine years, was deployed twice with SEAL Team 8 and helped establish the Tactical Medicine program for Naval Special Warfare.

He currently serves as the director of partnerships for Special Operations Forces to Medicine, a national nonprofit that supports Special Operations veterans transitioning into careers in medicine. In his role, he has assisted more than 40 prior Special Operations service members transition to medical school and helped to establish partnerships with over 10 medical schools across the country.

Jones plans to return to active-duty as a Navy physician following graduation, with a long-term goal of advancing operational military medicine and improving musculoskeletal care for active-duty service members and veterans. Jones lives in Morgantown with his wife, Rachel, and their 1-year-old daughter.

The Pearl Harbor Day ceremony will also include a 21-gun salute with three volleys being fired by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 548 and Post 9916.

-WVU-

hlt/12/1/25

MEDIA CONTACT: Penny Lipscomb
Director
WVU Center for Veteran, Military and Family Programs
304-293-8825; Penny.Lipscomb@mail.wvu.edu

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