Regina Clark, Centralia, left, posed for a picture during her 2003 deployment in Kuwait City. The man next to her was "her buddy," according to her then 18-year-old son, Kerry Clark, who chose this snapshot of his mother to lend to The Chronicle. The 43-year-old U.S. Naval Reserve member died in an ambush at Fallujah, Iraq.
Thirteen years after she made the ultimate sacrifice for her country in Iraq, Regina Clark is set to be honored in her hometown with the renaming of the state Route 507 bridge over the Skookumchuck River.
Clark, a Centralia resident and employee of Fuller’s Shop’n Kart, was killed in 2005 by a roadside bomb while serving as a naval reservist.
“I think it’s important for us to remember that freedom’s not free, and people go and defend our freedoms and that’s why we have the freedoms we do,” said state Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, who sponsored the bridge commemoration in the Legislature at the request of constituents. “I thought it was a fitting tribute to Ms. Clark.”
Orcutt’s bill, designating the structure as the Regina Clark Memorial Bridge, passed the House unanimously last week and is likely to meet little opposition in the Senate.
County commissioner Edna Fund said Centralia residents had been hoping to see Clark honored for some time.
“There was a group of citizens in Centralia that wanted to have some commemoration,” she said. “I appreciate the people in the Legislature working on that bill for us.”
Clark was a Navy Seabee with the rank of Petty Officer 1st Class. She became the first area casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In a 2010 Chronicle story, Clark’s former coworkers at Fuller’s remembered her as a dedicated colleague who took a real interest in people’s lives.
“She was so soft-spoken, easy to get along with and just a genuine person,” said Doug Smith, who worked with her for five years. “It’s gonna be hard to forget her.”
Orcutt noted that the location of the bridge sends an important message to people coming into the area.
“When they cross the line into Lewis County, that will be one of the first things they see,” he said. “It’s important that we have those daily reminders that people in our communities are serving overseas and putting themselves in harm’s way.”
