Corporal Jenkins was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was returning from his tour in Korea in a C-46 Commando transport enroute from Seattle, Washington to Columbia, South Carolina, when it crashed near Bear Lake, 28 miles northeast of Logan, Utah on 7 January 1953 killing all on board.

Jenkins was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.