The United States Naval Academy has released the identity of the Midshipman who passed away on Thursday night in Bancroft Hall. This is the second death of a Midshipman this month. On February 8, 2020, MIDN Duke Carrillo passed away during a Physical Readiness Test.
Forney, an offensive guard on the Navy Football team, was discovered unresponsive in his room by a fellow midshipman. A CPR-certified midshipman administered resuscitation efforts at the recommendation of first responders traveling to Bancroft Hall. Emergency services transported Forney to Anne Arundel County Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased at 11:28 p.m.
David Forney was a a First Class Midshipman (Senior) from Walkersville, Maryland. He was a stand out player on the Navy Football team starting all 13 games for his senior year. Forney did not see any varsity action in 2016, his Plebe year at the Academy. In the 2017 season, he was a member of the PAT and field goal teams and appeared in all 13 games and started as a guard in the final two games of the season. 2018 saw him start in only one game (Lehigh) but was put in rotation on the offensive line.
Words cannot express our pain and sorrow, First and foremost, our deepest condolences to the Forney family. The Navy Football Brotherhood is not a team, we are a family. We are devastated to have lost one of our brothers. We all loved – and will always love – David. We pray for strength during this most difficult time.
— Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo
Prior to coming to Navy in the summer of 2016 he graduated from Georgetown Preparatory School as a 3-year letter winner and football team captain his senior year. Forney spent a post-graduate year after that at the Naval Academy Prep School.
Many teammates and friends are remembering Forney on Twitter using the hashtag #684L (his jersey number 4 life).
The entire Naval Academy family – the Brigade of Midshipmen, the faculty, staff, and coaches – are heartbroken over the tragic and unexpected loss of Midshipman David Forney. On behalf of the Naval Academy family, my wife, Joanne, and I extend our deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the Forney family, their friends, as well as to David’s extended Naval Academy family.
–Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy
Forney, who was a member of the 9th Company and a political science major, would have graduated on May 22 and had been assigned to commission as a cryptologic warfare officer.
Service arrangements for Forney are still pending.
David Forney is survived by his parents, Rick and Erika Forney as well as his younger siblings Chris, Rebekah and Erik. The family resides in Walkersville, Maryland.
