s2019 Perry Photo Challenge Elsie Stormberg, Finalist
Forgotten Across Campus: A memorial greater than football
When Memorial Stadium was built in 1923, it was not meant for just football. It was meant to honor those who serve, have served and fell while serving. For Barb Yllescas and her daughter Jennifer, this rings true and means more to them than most know.
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Memorial Stadium stands tall on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. While the stadium is a hot spot for football in Nebraska, it also was originally designed in honor of Nebraska's veterans and fallen soldiers. On each corner of the stadium is a quote from former University of Nebraska-Lincoln philosophy professor Hartley Burr Alexander. On the southeast corner: "In Commemoration of the men of Nebraska who served and fell in the Nation's Wars." On the southwest corner: "Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game; In the deed the glory." On the northwest corner: "Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport." On the northeast corner: "Their Lives they held their country’s trust; They kept its faith; They died its heroes." Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major
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Barb Yllescas, 64, holds an image of her son, Capt. Robert Yllescas, and a Gold Star Service Flag at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Robert was a captain and an Army ranger before he passed away at the age of 31 from his battle injuries on Dec. 1, 2008. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb holds an image of Robert close to her chest inside of Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Robert was a captain at Camp Keating along the Pakistani and Afghan border in Kandahar province. The camp was working on a nearby bridge which was detonated as Robert was crossing it. He managed to survive from Oct. 28, 2008, until Dec. 1, 2008, at the Bethesda Naval Hospital when his mother made the decision to stop the machines keeping him alive. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb and her daughter, Jennifer, 38, remove a towel protecting Robert's folded flag inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. According to Barb, the flag has not left her home in Traynor, Iowa, since she received it after her son's death. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb and her daughter, Jennifer, left, hold Robert's folded flag inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Barb graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976 with a bachelor of science degree in special education. Jennifer is a student at Southeast Community College studying nursing. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb and Jennifer hold up Robert's folded flag inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Barb said her son, Robert, also graduated from UNL with a degree in agronomy in 2001. She also reported that Robert had always wanted to join the military, even at the young age of 6 years old. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Jennifer holds up a note she found on her windshield five years after Robert's death at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. According to Jennifer, being the oldest of four, Robert was the leader of the group and her mentor. His fellow soldiers referred to him as "Captain America" because of his hardworking and get-up-and-go nature. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Jennifer holds up an image of herself from when she was in the U.S. Marines at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Jennifer joined the Marines after she graduated from high school to "make a difference," Jennifer said. She was in the Marines from 1998 to 2002 and then did another six months in 2003. While studying nursing at SCC, Jennifer also works as a health technician at Lincoln East High School where her two daughters, Sarah, 17, and Abby, 16, attend high school. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb rests her hand on the POW/MIA chair inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. The chair is there to honor all those soldiers who were lost in combat with fates remaining unknown. According to Barb, this is just another effort Nebraska has made to "remember those who lost their lives in war and that a soldier doesn't die twice. They are never forgotten." Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Jennifer and Barb show Robert's Honor and Remember Flag, an image of him and a shell casing from his funeral at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. To the Yllescas, Robert was one of the greatest fans in college football. He nicknamed a camp he was stationed in "Camp Husker" and ensured that he never missed watching a Husker game, despite being overseas. Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Robert's memorabilia are piled on a table at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. The pile includes an image of Robert, a Gold Star Service Flag, a note Jennifer received after his death and a shell casing from Robert's funeral. After she lost her brother, Jennifer said, "It was like losing a part of me. A very big part of me; like an arm or a leg.” Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major -
Barb holds up her Gold Star locket with an image of Robert and his two daughters on the back at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Barb is a member of the American Gold Star Mothers Inc. where she volunteers to help veterans and their families. Barb said she loves being able to help others who have had similar experiences but has found a caveat. "It really is great that we do all of [the volunteering] but sometimes it is just so difficult to be [a Gold Star Mother]." Photo by Elsie Stormberg / Junior / Journalism major