Friends, family remember Dean Robert Bright

SUTHERLIN — Norma Lane’s voice cracked barely above a whisper and she wiped tears from her eyes when she talked Thursday night about her son, U.S. Army Pfc. Dean Bright.

Bright, 32, of Sutherlin, was killed Wednesday when he and other members of the 4th Infantry Division deployed in Taji, Iraq, were under attack by insurgents. Official details of his death have not been made public.

“You don’t want to believe it. You hope they made a mistake,” said Lane, who also lives in Sutherlin. “You just don’t want to believe it happened.”

Word of Bright’s death spread quickly in Sutherlin, and flags at city parks and in front of City Hall were lowered to half staff in commemoration of Bright, who had served on the City Council in 2001. The Sutherlin Lions Club put out its flags along Central Avenue today.

A moment of silence was observed during Thursday night’s junior varsity football game at Sutherlin High School against Douglas. A similar moment of silence will be observed at tonight’s varsity match-up between the same schools at Douglas High School.

Bright grew up in the area and was a graduate of Sutherlin High School. He worked at various jobs including United Parcel Service, Bayliner Marine and Murphy Plywood.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army Sept. 15, 2005, because it was something he had always wanted to do, Lane said. He was deployed to Camp Concho, Taji, Iraq, in March.

Before he joined the Army, Bright had coached baseball in Sutherlin and was also a longtime friend of the Sutherlin Police Department.

Sutherlin Police Sgt. Mike Mahler, who had known Bright for 10 years, said he was “a good person” who “was not quite a fixture, but was known by everyone down here” for spending much of his time visiting the department.

“He was good people, and there’s not a lot of people you can say that about these days,” Mahler said.

Mahler and Bright enjoyed mountain biking together, and Bright sent Mahler postcards telling him what he was doing in boot camp, Mahler said.

Mahler and his wife, Brenda, were told of Bright’s death by Sutherlin Police Cpl. Rich Hopkins.

“It was a shock to all of us,” Mahler said.

The last time he had heard from Bright, he said, was via a postcard he had received a couple of months ago.

Bright is remembered by friends and family as someone who spoke his mind like an auctioneer, but was also considerate and outgoing, Lane said.

The two kept in close contact through Yahoo Instant Messenger and he would often tell her of what his life was like in Iraq. She was last able to speak to him Saturday, before he was sent into the field.

“We shared a lot. We talked about so many things, good times and bad times,” she said.

She said he was looking forward to Christmas, his favorite holiday.

“He had his Christmas shopping all done,” Lane said.

Bright had been on leave to Qatar, where he had done most of his shopping, she said. He had also purchased gifts over the Internet.

“He said it would be so nice to be all back together as a family,” Lane said.

“I know we’re not the only family that’s lost a son or a daughter over there ... and I do keep telling myself that, but it’s hard to lose a child because you’re supposed to go first,” Lane said.

Other family and friends of Bright huddled in the living room of Becky Bright’s house long into Thursday night in a combination of shock and exhaustion. Becky and Dean had been divorced for five or six years, but the two had reconciled recently.

Dean was scheduled to return to Sutherlin on leave around Thanksgiving. He and Becky were planning to remarry in Reno, and had recently made the announcement to family members.

“It never crossed our minds he wasn’t going to come home. Everything has been about him coming home,” Becky said.

Dean’s younger sister, Sandra Powell, echoed the disbelief of her brother’s death.

“Everything so far has been what happens when he comes home. What are we going to do when he comes home,” she said. “I just had the feeling that when he wanted to come home, he wanted to see everybody.”

Trying to cope with the loss of Dean, Becky said, means focusing on their two children, Jarrod, 9, and Maddie, 6, and making sure they have everything they need.

They don’t believe he’s not coming home, she said.

Few funeral arrangements have been finalized, she said, except that Bright’s body is being transported to Portland before it is brought to Sutherlin.

Dean’s father, Robert Bright of Myrtle Point, a Korean War veteran, had been designated to take care of Dean’s affairs if he were ever killed in action.

It’s an emotional situation for Robert Bright, who’s having a tough time talking to anyone, his family said. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

Dean Bright had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor in August for risking his life saving his best friend from a surprise attack in April.

“He was doing what he wanted to do, and he loved doing it,” his sister Sandra said.

From the News Review

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