We’re in the middle of our Memorial Day weekend. For a moment, we thought we should look into the NFL’s past and highlight a former player who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

That would be former end Keith Birlem, whose tale was told Sunday in a nicely done story by the Washington Times’ Marc Lancaster -- and whose NFL career was a short one. Birlem played for the Chicago Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in 1939. But after that one season, he told Redskins general manager Jack Espey that he was leaving football to join the military.

You really should read all of Lancaster’s story here -- it highlights Birlem’s life before pro football, his quick stint in the military and his tragic death in the service -- but here was another take on Birlem’s death from the May 19, 1943, edition of his hometown paper, the San Jose Evening News.