Dean Robert Bright killed by bomb explosion

U.S. Army Pfc. Dean Robert Bright of Sutherlin was killed Wednesday when a bomb exploded in a warehouse in Iraq.

Bright, 32, and other members of the 4th Infantry Division deployed in Taji, Iraq, were under attack from insurgents when they were killed, said his mother, Norma Lane.

A spokeswoman at Fort Hood in Texas, where the 4th Infantry is headquartered, could not confirm the deaths this morning. She said typically information is not released to the public until 24 hours after next of kin is notified.

Bright, who served on Sutherlin City Council in 2000 and 2001, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor last month for risking his life rescuing a fellow soldier in April.

Two officers from the Oregon National Guard arrived at Lane’s Sutherlin home about 3 p.m. Wednesday to notify her of her son’s death.

“When they came here, they asked me if I was Norma Lane and ... it didn’t dawn on me why they were here,” Lane said. “Then they asked me if I had a son name Robert Dean Bright, and I said, ‘No, his name is Dean Robert Bright.’ They said, ‘Sorry, we misread the paper,’” Lane said.

When they told her Bright was killed in action, Lane said, she went into shock and became numb.

“I said, ‘No, it can’t be true.’ They had to show me the paperwork to prove it,” Lane said.

She had last spoken to him online on Saturday.

“That was my last morning when I got to talk to him. He was so close to coming home,” Lane said.

She was told she would receive additional details later today.

Bright had been on leave to the nation of Qatar for four days, and had just returned to his unit in Taji, his ex-wife Becky Bright said.

Bright was scheduled to come home on leave around Thanksgiving. While he was home, he and Becky planned to remarry Jan. 6 in Reno, she said.

Becky had not heard from Dean for several days, although he had left her a message.

“I had gotten a voice mail from him saying he was still out (in the field) and didn’t know when he would be back. But he didn’t want us to worry,” Becky Bright said.

She received the news from her sisters, Heather Horvath and Melissa Thomas, both of Sutherlin, who were contacted by Lane.

“His mom didn’t want to call and tell me while I was driving home from work, so she called my sister,” Becky said.

When she heard the news, she went to Lane’s home.

Bright’s children, Jarrod, 9, and Maddie, 6, are trying to be strong, Becky said.

“Dean had just bought Jarrod tickets to an Oregon State game off of e-Bay. (Jarrod) didn’t even know yet because Dean hadn’t come back out of the field to tell me,” she said.

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