Dean Robert Bright laid to rest

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.

“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.

From the News Review

Friends, family honor Sutherlin soldier

ROSEBURG - Once the bugler finished "Taps," once the riflemen's salute had echoed off the distant hills, and once all the prayers and praises were spoken Saturday afternoon, a lone figure stood over Dean Bright's open grave and saluted the soldier who once saved his son's life in battle.

That happened in a roadside bomb attack last summer in Iraq. Bright, an Army private first class from Sutherlin, got the Bronze Star for heroism.

But on Oct. 4 another bomb exploded, and this time Bright was killed. He was 32.

Bright, who was buried Saturday with military honors and a second Bronze Star at Roseburg National Cemetery, was as deeply rooted in the small Southern Oregon town of Sutherlin as it's possible to be.

The soundtrack was full country western, from "Proud to be an American" to "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Under school banners that bragged "1959 wrestling champions" and "2006 girls golf champions," the community of Sutherlin came together to tell of its admiration for Dean Robert Bright.

"I want you to remember," began pastor Bill Sanders, whose son grew up with Bright and also graduated in the Sutherlin class of '92, "that this is a memorial for Dean Bright." The pastor paused significantly.

"So I want you to turn around and talk to your neighbor real loud and real fast for a moment. Go ahead! That's Dean!"

Bright, everyone said, was a big guy, a big-hearted guy, a can-do guy, a joiner and a doer. He coached kids softball, he rode four-wheelers, he practically burned up the internet e-mailing his friends, parents and his sister while he was in Iraq.

He was the third Roseburg-area soldier killed in a war that's claimed more than 2,500 American lives.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski quoted Abraham Lincoln and talked about grief. "On this day we gather to honor not all who served and died but one very special soldier who served and one very special soldier who died," he said. "No matter where you stand on the war in Iraq, there can be no doubt that Roseburg and its surroundings have paid a terrible price for this war."

Bright's family didn't need politiciansto tell them about patriotism. His father, Bob Bright, wore an American flag necktie with his suit. His daughter, 6-year-old Madison, wore an American flag pin on her lacy white dress.

Also seated at graveside were Bright's mother, Norma Lane, of Sutherlin, and her husband, Chris; Bright's stepmother, Emily, of Myrtle Point; his sister, Sandra; his former wife, Becky Bright - who he was going to remarry Jan. 6; and their son, Jarrod, who is 9.

Everyone talked about the gifts they had received from Bright.

But it was Mel Gibbons, who stood and quietly saluted the grave, and his wife, Bonnie, to whom Bright may have given the greatest gift of all: 10 more weeks of their son's short life.

Bright went through basic training with the younger man, Devon Gibbons, and the two became friends as they went to Iraq together in 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in April.

Soon after they arrived, the two soldiers were on patrol, but in separate vehicles, when Gibbons' Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

"Devon's Bradley was blown up," his mom said as the balloons sailed overhead. "It was flipped upside down. It was burning. And people were shooting. Dean was the first guy to get there. He reached into the fire and pulled Devon out."

Burned over more than 90 percent of his body, Devon Gibbons died 10 weeks later, his parents at his side. He was 19.

On Saturday, the Gibbonses came from their home in Port Orchard, Wash., to the funeral of a soldier they hardly knew to say thanks for those 10 more weeks with their son.

"A hero," said Mel Gibbons, "is someone who understands love better than the rest of us. Dean Bright was a hero to me."

From the Register Guard

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Friends, family remember Dean Robert Bright

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Dean Robert Bright killed by bomb explosion