Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
A father's grief
Bob Bright rests his head on the casket of his son, U.S. Army Pfc. Dean Bright, at the V.A. National Cemetery Saturday. Dean Bright of Sutherlin was killed Oct. 4, in Taji, Iraq.
|
ENLARGE
|
Fond memories remain
Family members of U.S. Army Pfc. Dean Bright from left, fiancee Becky Bright, with daughter Madison, 6, on her lap; son Jarrod, 9; sister Sandra Powell; and mother Norma Lane listen to speakers during Bright’s funeral service at Sutherlin High School Saturday.
|
SUTHERLIN — American flags lined Central Avenue Saturday from Interstate 5 to Eagle Court on the way to Sutherlin High School, where memorial services were held for U.S. Army Pfc. Dean Bright.
Bright, 32, of Sutherlin, was killed in an insurgent attack Oct. 4 along with three other U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 4th Infantry and deployed in Taji, Iraq. He is the third soldier from Douglas County to die in Iraq.
The incident is still under investigation, said Tyler Broadway, an Army spokesman.
Mourners filed past more than 100 Patriot Guard motorcycle riders clad in leather coats and chaps, holding still more U.S. flags in tribute. Inside the school’s gymnasium, grieving men and women embraced and wept on the bleachers while a soundtrack of mostly country music played over a slideshow of Bright growing up.
Bright’s family members were seated on the basketball court, as were Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Gen. Ray Byrne of the Oregon National Guard. Melvin and Bonnie Gibbons, whose son is U.S. Army Pfc. Devon Gibbons, 19, of Port Orchard, Wash., were also present. Bright had saved Gibbons’s life during an insurgent attack in April, though Gibbons later died of his injuries at a medical facility in Texas.
The gym seemed to fill with thunder as people rose to their feet and received Bright’s casket, carried in by the seven-member military honor guard.
Pastor Bill Sanders Jr., a longtime family friend, began the services by thanking those in attendance, and elicited a laugh by playing on two of Bright’s well-known idiosyncrasies.
“Would you take a moment and turn to your neighbor and talk real loud and real fast,” Sanders said, sending waves of laughter among the crowd.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine, laid his hand on Bright’s casket and crossed himself as he walked to the podium to eulogize Bright.
“Although Dean’s life cannot be restored, it can be redeemed in the pride you take with you and the memories you keep with you,” Kulongoski said.
DeFazio said Bright’s experience serving on Sutherlin’s City Council was a “pretty extraordinary perspective” to have as a soldier in Iraq.
“Who could know democracy better than someone who was elected and served at that level,” DeFazio said.
“Dean Bright was always bigger than everyone else, louder than everyone else and had a bigger heart than everyone else,” Sanders said.
His son, Bill Sanders III, met Bright at a young age when they lived one street apart from each other in Sutherlin, and they grew up together. As the “Class of ‘92” came up through the ranks of the school system, Sanders said, Bright was elected its class president.
Bright, 32, of Sutherlin, was killed in an insurgent attack Oct. 4 along with three other U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 4th Infantry and deployed in Taji, Iraq. He is the third soldier from Douglas County to die in Iraq.
The incident is still under investigation, said Tyler Broadway, an Army spokesman.
Mourners filed past more than 100 Patriot Guard motorcycle riders clad in leather coats and chaps, holding still more U.S. flags in tribute. Inside the school’s gymnasium, grieving men and women embraced and wept on the bleachers while a soundtrack of mostly country music played over a slideshow of Bright growing up.
Bright’s family members were seated on the basketball court, as were Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Gen. Ray Byrne of the Oregon National Guard. Melvin and Bonnie Gibbons, whose son is U.S. Army Pfc. Devon Gibbons, 19, of Port Orchard, Wash., were also present. Bright had saved Gibbons’s life during an insurgent attack in April, though Gibbons later died of his injuries at a medical facility in Texas.
The gym seemed to fill with thunder as people rose to their feet and received Bright’s casket, carried in by the seven-member military honor guard.
Pastor Bill Sanders Jr., a longtime family friend, began the services by thanking those in attendance, and elicited a laugh by playing on two of Bright’s well-known idiosyncrasies.
“Would you take a moment and turn to your neighbor and talk real loud and real fast,” Sanders said, sending waves of laughter among the crowd.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine, laid his hand on Bright’s casket and crossed himself as he walked to the podium to eulogize Bright.
“Although Dean’s life cannot be restored, it can be redeemed in the pride you take with you and the memories you keep with you,” Kulongoski said.
DeFazio said Bright’s experience serving on Sutherlin’s City Council was a “pretty extraordinary perspective” to have as a soldier in Iraq.
“Who could know democracy better than someone who was elected and served at that level,” DeFazio said.
“Dean Bright was always bigger than everyone else, louder than everyone else and had a bigger heart than everyone else,” Sanders said.
His son, Bill Sanders III, met Bright at a young age when they lived one street apart from each other in Sutherlin, and they grew up together. As the “Class of ‘92” came up through the ranks of the school system, Sanders said, Bright was elected its class president.
“Dean rarely held back, especially when it came to being mischievous,” Bill Sanders III said, speaking for his graduating class.
He reflected on the time when he, Bright, and other friends went to paint a statue of Sutherlin High School’s mascot, the bulldog, and got carried away and painted most of the school.
“It was all painted over the next morning and we were pretty depressed,” Sanders said.
Bright, unwilling to be outdone, painted “92” on the then-principal’s car a week later.
Bright was taken by a procession led by a police motorcycle to the V.A. National Cemetery, where the seven-member military honor guard laid the casket to rest in front of a U.S. flag flying at half-mast.
Sgt. 1st Class Nancy Pine of the Oregon National Guard announced that Bright had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
Bright had previously been awarded the Bronze Star Medal in August after he pulled his best friend Gibbons from a burning Bradley fighting vehicle, saving his life.
The silence of the cemetery was broken by the sharp report of a rifle salute, and the somber sound of taps being played from a bugle as Bright’s family were presented with the flag that was draped over his coffin.
• You can reach reporter Erik Skoog at 957-4202 or by e-mail at eskoog@newsreview.info.
He reflected on the time when he, Bright, and other friends went to paint a statue of Sutherlin High School’s mascot, the bulldog, and got carried away and painted most of the school.
“It was all painted over the next morning and we were pretty depressed,” Sanders said.
Bright, unwilling to be outdone, painted “92” on the then-principal’s car a week later.
Bright was taken by a procession led by a police motorcycle to the V.A. National Cemetery, where the seven-member military honor guard laid the casket to rest in front of a U.S. flag flying at half-mast.
Sgt. 1st Class Nancy Pine of the Oregon National Guard announced that Bright had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
Bright had previously been awarded the Bronze Star Medal in August after he pulled his best friend Gibbons from a burning Bradley fighting vehicle, saving his life.
The silence of the cemetery was broken by the sharp report of a rifle salute, and the somber sound of taps being played from a bugle as Bright’s family were presented with the flag that was draped over his coffin.
• You can reach reporter Erik Skoog at 957-4202 or by e-mail at eskoog@newsreview.info.
