The seventh US service member killed in the conflict with Iran — a 26-year-old from Kentucky — was brought home Monday evening in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, from Glendale, Kentucky, died Sunday after sustaining injuries the week prior in an attack by Iran on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. Pennington was assigned to 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, a unit within the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.

This undated handout image released by the US Army on March 9 shows US Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, who died of his wounds on March 8.

This undated handout image released by the US Army on March 9 shows US Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, who died of his wounds on March 8.
US ARMY/AFP/Getty Images

Vice President JD Vance joined top military officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, in observing the solemn event. They saluted as the transfer case was taken across the tarmac.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Pennington a “hero who sacrificed everything serving our country” in a Facebook post on Monday. Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a news release that Pennington “gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country that he loved.”