First Lieutenant Tanner was the co-pilot of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. On January 13, 1953, while on a night intruder mission, contact with his aircraft was lost. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on January 14, 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.