Memorial service today for sailor killed Monday in SR 16 crash

Pacific Ocean (Jan. 31, 2007) - Lieutenant Regina Rogers directs an F/A-18 Hornet on the flight deck onboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is currently underway conducting Fleet Replacement Squadron Carrier Qualifications (FRS-CQ). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist Seamen Apprentice John Scorza

The USS Nimitz will hold a memorial service today for a long-time sailor who was killed Monday while trying to help fellow motorists on state Route 16.

The service for Lt. Cmdr. Regina Mills, 44, begins at 1 p.m. aboard the ship, which is stationed at Naval Base Kitsap.

Mills, an Everett resident, was driving westbound on SR 16 early Monday when she came upon several crashes on the ice-slickened roadway near Burnham Drive. She pulled over and got out of her car.

A pickup truck lost control and hit another vehicle. The vehicle crashed into Mills as well as a Washington State Patrol trooper and motorcyclist who also were on the side of the road.

Mills was killed. The other two were injured.

Mills, a Louisville, Ky. native, joined the Navy in 1986. She reported to the Nimitz in December 2009.

She served as the aircraft-handling officer on the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier stationed in Bremerton. She was responsible for the arrangement of aircraft on the flight and hangar decks, the Navy said Tuesday. She was the Navy’s first female aircraft handler.