GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — About four months ago, Bobby and Julie Young, who live in Scott County, sought help from an attorney based in Lexington to look into circumstances surrounding their son's death on a remote Alaska Air Force Base.
"It's a pain that you can't describe as a mother," Julie Young said.
Julie describes her daily routine since her son, airman Tanner Young, was laid to rest at Camp Nelson.
"His burial January 12 marked the one year he was laid to rest at Camp Nelson. I'm there every day," Julie said.
Every day since Tanner passed away, Julie has been searching for answers about his death.
Serving at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, Tanner was found dead by Alaska State Troopers on Dec. 23, 2023.
When LEX 18 reached out to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, their communications director, Austin McDaniel, responded with this statement via email:
"The Alaska State Troopers conducted a thorough death investigation into Tanner Young’s death that occurred in December 2023. The evidence collected at the scene, interviews conducted, and the State Medical Examiner’s Office Autopsy report resulted in the conclusion that Tanner Young died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No foul play is suspected, and our investigation is closed.
When deaths of service members happen on military installations, the military law enforcement entity takes the lead on determining if there is foul play suspected as well as the cause and manner of death. When deaths of service members occur off of a military installation, local law enforcement with jurisdiction in that area will conduct the investigation. The Alaska State Troopers worked with Mr. Young’s military chain of command and military investigators during our investigation."
Details surrounding Tanner's death led Julie and her husband, Bobby, to seek help from attorney Dennis Shepherd, who said he received a heavily redacted report from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
"I made an open records request of Alaska for their investigation, their version of open records in Alaska, and received over 50 different files of their investigation. I also made a Freedom of Information Act Request from the Air Force to get their OSI (Office of Special Investigations) report in this case and I got that. Unfortunately, that was more redacted than it was useful," Shepherd said.
From there, Shepherd sent out a questionnaire to airmen who knew Tanner and knew the work environment at Eielson and the 354th Logistics Squadron, Tanner's squadron.
Referring to them as consistent replies, he read through some of the anonymous statements he received.
"It was a relentlessly depressing environment," an airman referred to as Airman B said.
"The same airman says the number of suicides and suicide attempts was absurd," Shepherd added.
Shepherd said another airman, referred to as Airman D, commenting on leadership at Eielson, said, "Eielson Air Force Base does not care about the airmen."
Various airmen also sent Dennis some opinions about Tanner. One noted that Tanner was "the embodiment of what it means to be a true teammate and wingman."
Another added, "He was like a brother to me."
The incident report following Tanner's death in 2023 said Tanner's estranged wife Mackenzie called with concerns for Tanner's safety, saying he was suicidal.
"Now putting that altogether, you have somebody who had just become the airman of the quarter. You had somebody who his fellow colleagues loved and he had a spouse that he had separated from who calls in and says he was suicidal. It doesn't add up, it just doesn't add up, and so our focus in the future is going to be to hold that squadron and that leadership and the Air Force accountable because they did neglect in their duty to protect their airmen," Shepherd said.
"When I was told by my son that he was in a verbal and mental abusive situation in his home life, I contacted his leadership to make them aware. They assured me that they had eyes on my son. A few short months later, I'm laying my son to rest. Never did I ever dream that he would lose his life because his country, and the Air Force did not protect him," Julie added.
LEX 18 made multiple calls to PACAF (Pacific Air Forces) requesting comment.
In an email to LEX 18 Wednesday, PACAF responded:
"We do not have information regarding this investigation here at PACAF. I’ll direct you to Eielson Public Affairs or Alaskan Law enforcement for further comment," V/R Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs.
After multiple calls to Eielson Wednesday, LEX 18 is awaiting comment.
"Eielson Air Force Base answers to PACAF in Hawaii. They're a subordinate base to PACAF. I think the people in PACAF, the leadership in PACAF will learn about what we're doing here," Shepherd said.
As Shepherd adds... PACAF will have to answer some of his questions.
