Stacey, William Chapman, Sgt

 
  Sgt. William Stacey, a US Marine from Seattle, lost his life in Afghanistan last week. He wrote the following letter to his family in case that happened:

"My death did not change the world; it may be tough for you to justify its meaning at all. But there is a greater meaning to it. Perhaps I did not change the world. Perhaps there is still injustice in the world. But there will be a child who will live because men left the security they enjoyed in their home country to come to his. And this child will learn in the new schools that have been built. He will walk his streets not worried about whether or not his leader’s henchmen are going to come and kidnap him. He will grow into a fine man who will pursue every opportunity his heart could desire. He will have the gift of freedom, which I have enjoyed for so long. If my life buys the safety of a child who will one day change this world, then I know that it was all worth it.

Semper Fidelis means always faithful. Always faithful to God, Country and Corps. Always faithful to the principles and beliefs that guided me into the service. And on that day in October when I placed my hand on a bible and swore to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, I meant it."

  Although he lived in Redding only for a brief time, the death of a former Shasta College student who was killed Tuesday while serving with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan has touched the lives of north state residents.

"I didn't know the young man, but we were brothers," said 81-year-old Bill Philen, who has lived in Redding for more than 20 years.

That's because they were Marines, he said.

"We were both Marine green," said Philen, a Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was twice wounded in the Korean War. "He is a brother Marine, and we say God rest his soul."

Sgt. William C. Stacey, who joined the Marine Corps in 2007, moved to Redding from Seattle, Wash., in the fall of 2006 so he could play baseball at Shasta College, his sister said Thursday.

"He was a baseball player," said Anna Stacey, 16, of Seattle.

But Stacey's father, Robert, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that his son always wanted to be part of a bigger team — the Marine Corps — and enlisted in early 2007.

Shasta College Superintendent-President Joe Wyse issued a statement expressing condolences on behalf of the college to Stacey's family.

"We are proud to have been a part of his life and trust that the service he provided to our country will serve as an example to all of us and help us better recognize and cherish the freedoms we all enjoy as a result of the great sacrifice of so many like Sgt. Stacey in our nation's history," Wyse said in his statement.

Stacey, who grew up in Seattle and graduated in 2006 from Seattle's Roosevelt High School, was killed by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Helmand province.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton.

His father said Stacey was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.

He was a mortar man.

During his Marine Corps service, Stacey was awarded the Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two bronze star devices, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with silver star device and the NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan.

Stacey, who listed his hometown as Redding, is the 22nd serviceman from the north state killed while serving in Afghanistan or Iraq.