The voicemail was left sometime after the Memorial Day weekend of 2000. I vividly remember the message, and it has haunted me this time of year ever since 2003.

"This is Kay Benien," the caller said. "I want to thank you for keeping alive the memory of those boys who died in Vietnam."

She dialed my office number in response to a Memorial Day-related column on Bob Kalsu, which ran in the Tulsa World on May 26, 2000. A former Oklahoma All-American offensive lineman, Kalsu was the only NFL player to die during the Vietnam War.

What she didn't say, however, was that one of "those boys" was her son. A former Sooner player like Kalsu, Tulsa native John Benien also gave his life for his country during that horrible war in Southeast Asia.

I first wrote about Kalsu in 1992 for the Tulsa Tribune. And again while at The Oklahoman, long before Sports Illustrated finally discovered the Del City native and made him the cover story of its July 23, 2001 issue.

For some inexplicable reason, I never came across John Benien's name in those early years of researching Kalsu. When I finally did, shortly after Kay Benien left that message, I promised myself to call her before the 2001 Memorial Day and do a column on her "boy."

Well, one year became two, which extended into three. And then