Memorial Day comes and goes and for many Americans they can no longer remember a family member who died in one of the great wars or in service to our Country. Sure lots of people post flags on their porches and lawns or maybe drive by a cemetery and see a flag or two and for a second think about the day and why we celebrate it.
For me I think of everyone I lost and because of my now two decades coaching and writing on so many kids it happens to be quite a few. Now I know you have your heroes and those you want to honor. And I want you to please post the name of anyone you want to have remembered. I am going to tweet 100% of the names in memory of them and add them to this story into perpetuity.
In our house there is Family and Football and a lot of other things too. But those two tend to dominate a lot of the discussions and outings as you might well imagine. And because of this there is a special remembrance I want to give today. It is not about my Dad or my Grandpa or Uncle or other family members who died in the service of the Nation.
On the contrary I want to remember some young men who shared their lives with us and who have left us.
You see there were a lot of guys that spent a lot of their youth being hauled around in the "Cat Mobile" (My 1994 High Miles Suburban with Wildcat Helmet stickers and "Go Cats" on the plates) as it was oft called back in the days I was coaching at Westview High School in the youth program. Many a day it was carpooling top practice or a game and in the off-season it was the push to camps and clinics; long before High School and Youth Football became a business.
Among these young warriors were
Nathan Lindstrand and Jason Bryngelson.
(left to right: Kord Knudsen, Tyson Ivie, Jason Bryngelson, and Nathan "Nate" Lindstrand at the PSU Viking Football Camp in 2003-4)
Jason Bryngelson was a massive linemen for a youth kid. He was always big and 6'1"- 230 lbs anyway by 8th grade. It was my pleasure to coach him through the 3-6th grade years. He was a battering ram to be frank and could be relied upon to exert brute force and aggression to get the job done. If you needed a hole blown open he did it. On defense if we needed to stop a TD he took on double and triple teams and won most of those battles.
He was coach-able, likable, and more then anything respectful. Bryngelson was s bit of a loner but most linemen are; I know my three tend to be. And I loved that about him so we always wanted him to be with us at Camps. It was the 3 years I believe of going back and forth to the Tim Walsh PSU Football Camp that I remember the most and how he made us all proud to be Wildcats because he made things happen. Good things and the boys won when they played around him and they fed on it and he was supported and heralded by them. In this years Jason was at his best I feel. He was confident and powerful and ultimately he ruled his domain.
As the years went on I saw less and less of him but I got a chance to say hello and give him extra encouragement when I saw him at the High School on Friday Nights. He started for the Wildcats at times but fought injuries and seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff. It happens and I am sure many of you athletes and parents know what I am saying. But that never meant to me he was not still ultimately capable of the things he was when he was younger. Let's just say that Jason was on a line going straight up as a youth player. The sky was the limit. That line flattened out as 10th and 11th grade came along and in the end he was a good High School player who dominated in the youth leagues. A very common story.
High school came and went and he and I talked about him going on to college and maybe playing. He was still trying to figure it all out like every 18 year old running around with a shingle in their hand. I asked him to keep in touch and told him I was proud of him. He thanked me and was ultimately humble as he always was.
On February 22, 2010 I got a call from one of the Coaches that worked with us. And he let me know that Jason was gone having been found dead on the floor of his bedroom in Aloha where he lived with his parents who were friends of ours. The giant had fallen and was no more.
His Mom Debbie shared this with us when it happened.
"Jason was one day away from signing his papers to enter the Army. He still had his two passions… Football and Weight Lifting. The time leading up to this tragedy he had just found his football notebook and had been looking at the weights he had lifted and was so proud of that. In fact that is exactly what he was doing when the chain reaction started that took him from us."
There was a funeral and a Memorial. It was sad and beautiful at the same time and I will never forget at the family get together afterward seeing his room where he had fallen, the pictures all over the home of Jason, and thinking how lucky we were to have had him in our lives.
Jason Bryngelson was intending to serve his Nation when he died and was officially in the Army so they gave his Mother a Flag for his service. Because his death was unexplained his family agreed to donate his brain to the Sports Legacy Institute that has all of the brains of the great NFL players. His brain is being researched for any connection to the sport of football and his name and picture will be one of a few high school kids who will be remembered on the Memorial Wall and on the website. His life story will be right there with the many NFL greats who have done the same.
It appears that Jason may have died from a Heat Stroke which caused a number of his organs to shut down. We will never know for sure but I do know we will miss but never forget Jason.
Tomorrow, May 26th, 2013 would have been his 23rd Birthday.
There is a Memorial Page for Jason right here on Facebook.
Nathan Lindstrand was a QB and a year ahead of Jason. He was a gifted kid too and while he never got the accolades and the credit of some better known QB's he was a very good QB over at Sunset HS before he was done. He started as the QB for the Westview 7th and 8th grade teams and played along side his brother Will Berrigan and his friends.
Nate, as we called him, was a terrific guy. He was the "A" personality life of the party and a born leader. A smart kid he knew the game of football and was coach-able at the highest levels. He wanted to learn and be the best and clearly he continued to improve. He started as a QB at Sunset after moving schools and was out there on many a Friday night tearing it up and spraying that football all over the field.
His High School experience went fast like all of ours did and he decided when High School was over that football was probably over too; although I remember having that same pep talk with him about moving on and giving it a shot at one of the smaller schools because he was good enough to play on. If I remember right he had other plans but said that he had considered it.
Thanks to Facebook and me keeping in touch with his family, also great friends of ours, I was able to keep in touch with Nate too. We knew he had entered the Air Force and that he was stationed in Germany. He looked amazing in his dress blues and I could not help but be proud of him; we all were.
Again fate struck and his brother Will, who is now in the service, contacted me about 4 years ago to let me know Nate was sick. It seems he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma but was battling the Cancer like he was playing the dreaded Jesuit Crusaders. He was calm cool and collected. And he was fighting. 
We saw Nate in 2009 and again in 2010 and both times he was looking good and assured us he had this thing beat. By the way he looked and that positive attitude we all believed him. Anyone that has watched someone battle cancer knows it can be beaten but in the end it is a cruel disease that spares a few and takes most. In the Summer of 2010 I called Greg Barton who had coached Nate and told him about what was happening and asked him to go with me to the OHSU to see him. He agreed.
I remember having to put a bunny suit on and going in to see Nate and having a great visit. He was reading the financial section of the Wall Street Journal while glancing up and down at some sports contests on TV and assuring Coach Barton and I he was good to go.
"I got this you guys," were the words I remember most.
On November 19th, 2010 just after his 22nd Birthday Nathan Lindstrand lost his battle to Hodgkin's Lymphoma and took his last snap as a QB on this plane. He had served his team mates, his family, and his country to the very end.
I spoke to Will today online. He is overseas and serving our Nation. And I asked him to share some of this thoughts about Memorial Day and his brother Nate.
"This weekend is rough, losing a brother is something that you can never prepare for, even for someone like myself who prides themself on being mentally tough. It's been almost 3 years since he passed away and some days I still can't believe he's gone. I can honestly say that losing my big brother is the hardest experience I've ever been through."
It's time for me to say thanks to God for sparing my Oldest son Kord. This is him 4 days before graduation in 2007.
It has been 7 years almost to the day when he was hit on his way to Aloha High School for a class. It took 20 minutes to get him out of the car and it is only the fact that he was a football player and a powerhouse kid that he was not killed.
At the point of impact he locked his arms out and pushed back against the seat absorbing the blows of the wreck through his hands, arms, and chest. The steering wheel was folded in hand shaped impressions at the 10 and 2 position from the force he put against that wheel. His foot broke off at the ankle, and he hurt his neck and his back.
But he survived.
His last 7 years has all been a battle in so many ways it does not serve any purpose to go into them all. The kid that got into that car that day died in almost every way a kid can die.
The man that was cut out is alive and fighting every day; but the kid is gone. We are so thankful to God that he is still with us and we love him so.
There are 4 friends in that photo. A photo I forgot I had and that was trapped on a Kodak Interactive picture frame until I just found it a month or so ago. How they all ended up in there I will never know. How the two on the right happened to be positioned like that is a mystery too. But Jason and Nate (right) are gone. Kord and Tyson (left) are still here as are all of you reading this.
So what does it all mean?
I like to think it must mean that we are not in control of anything and that all of us are just 1 day or 1 down, to use a football metaphor, from being gone. Poof! No more.
And knowing that makes life harder to deal with but maybe easier to accept. Does that make any sense? I am hurting as I write this but smiling at the same time. I don't know why Nate and Jason are gone and we are all still here.
But I do know this. They made an impact on the world and they are not forgotten. Not by many of us.
To die and to be forgotten and never remembered by anyone would truly be a tragedy. I have to consider the fact that I am remembering the two fo them on Memorial Day to mean their lives were meaningful and important. Very important. And truly they were.
This Memorial Day weekend we honor Jason Bryngelson and Nathan Lindstrand and all of the others both young and old, man and woman, boy and girl, who have passed on to the other side. God Bless them and all of their families and friends who are missing them and remembering them at this special time.
ALL WEEKEND LONG WE ARE REMEMBERING ALL OF OUR FALLEN FRIENDS AND FAMILY. PLEASE GO TO OUR FB PAGE AND LEAVE A MEMORY ON OUR WALL AND WE WILL ADD THEIR NAMES TO THIS STORY AND ON OUR WALL– Click the Link
Readers Share Their Memorial Wishes:
Wendi Edwards Vaandering-
Alex Vaandering– he was the ballboy for his big brother, Taylor Vaandering's 8th grade football team, Aloha Youth….he passed away in his sleep on Oct. 1st, 2010 of a massive seizure. That night was the Aloha High School Football Homecoming game, the players wore black arm bands & some wrote "AV" on their arms…. they even dedicated their season to honor Alex. Alex was the Aloha Warrior Football Angel for that season….they went on to win the State Championship…it was a beautiful thing. We miss him so much, everyday is a struggle, but we live on… Taylor continues to play in his honor…he will be getting a tattoo w/ 'AV' on his right arm and '33' on his left, just as he wrote it before each game. Thank you Dirk for remembering all of our fallen kids….
David Puckett-
Andrew Keller of Southridge High School – Killed Auguest 15th 2012 in Afghanistan. A true star of an Athlete and better leader and person.
http://photos.oregonlive.com/photo-essay/2012/09/southridge_high_honors_fallen.html
Anonymous Reader- Marcus Nettles- Westview High School – Killed in Service to his country – Great football player form Westview in 2004-2005. Great smile. Great young man! We remember him today.
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