Magda returned to the United States in 1944 and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on October 3, 1945. In March, 1948, he served as a member of the first jet squadron to operate on board an aircraft carrier (the USS Boxer).
In September, 1949, he was assigned to fly with the “Blue Angels”, the navy’s flight exhibition team and he became their Commander in January, 1950.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, Magda and his Blue Angel teammates were assigned to the USS Princeton, where he commanded VF-191, a jet fighter squadron operating in the Korean area.
On March 9, 1951, Lieutenant Commander Magda, as strike leader, was pressing home a rocket and strafing attack against enemy North Korean and Chinese Communist installations at Tanchon, Korea when his jet was hit and burst into flames. He headed his plane toward the sea where it crashed, costing him his life. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism. He was survived by his wife and two children – He was 33.