Bardstown remembers Tech. Sgt. Ashley Young Pruitt with highway dedication: 'She was the best of us'

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — A portion of Kentucky Highway 523 was dedicated Saturday in honor of Tech. Sgt. Ashley Young Pruitt, a Nelson County native who died in March while serving during Operation Epic Fury.

Gov. Andy Beshear joined family, friends and community members in Bardstown for the dedication ceremony. Beshear said the newly designated memorial highway will help ensure Pruitt's legacy lives on for her family and community.

Pruitt, 34, was one of six service members killed when their KC-135 air tanker went down during the operation in Iraq. Born and raised in Bardstown, Pruitt was an active member of the Nelson County High School JROTC program and continued in the ROTC program at the University of Louisville before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 2017.

She served as a boom operator and instructor, with assignments at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma and Sumpter Smith Air National Guard Base in Alabama.

"She was the best of us," a Chief Master Sergeant said.

Pruitt is survived by her husband, Greg Pruitt; her daughter, Emilia; her stepson, Ollie; her parents, Patrick and Grace Young; her brother, Technical Sergeant Blake Young; and her paternal grandmother, JoAnn Myers.

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