Steve Tanner

K. Melissa McMahan Glindmeyer
November 26, 2018

Fellow Bromley kids will recall the Steve Tanner Award presented every year on Memorial Day. We took the time recently to pay our respects at the Vietnam Memorial. Here’s his story:

Steven Dale Tanner was a resident of Bromley and casualty of the Vietnam War. Tanner was born on February 10, 1950 to Mr. And Mrs. Wilbert Tanner. The family lived at 109 Moore Street. Steve Tanner attended Dixie Heights High School, where he graduated in 1968. Tanner played football, basketball and track at Dixie. He was also a member of the Bromley Volunteer Fire Department and the Immanuel United Church of Christ in Bromley. Tanner turned down a college scholarship to join the Marines in 1968.

Tanner was stationed in Vietnam in January 1969 at the Cunningham Support Base near Laos. He was killed in action on February 19, 1969, nine days after his 19th birthday. Tanner was survived by his parents and his two brothers, Jeff and Mark. Funeral arrangements were handled by Bullock Funeral Home of Ludlow.

In 1995, the name of Harris Street was officially changed by city officials to Steve Tanner Street, in memory of Bromley’s only Vietnam War casualty. The Steve Tanner Award is presented each Memorial Day to a Bromley youth who has shown dedication to community service. The award is funded with the interest from an anonymous donation given to the city in 1969 in Tanner’s memory.

News Enterprise, February 27, 1969, p. 1 and April 3, 1969