Sgt. William C. Stacey, 23, of Redding, Calif., died Jan. 31 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and graduated from recruit training March 2007. He was soon assigned to the 81mm mortar platoon, weapons company, 2nd battalion, 4th Marines. He was a 2006 Roosevelt High School graduate and joined the Marines the following year; he signed up for a second four-year hitch last January. His father, Bob Stacey, a UW history professor, said, "Will believed this was the right thing to do, that it was the great challenge of his generation. He saw himself as helping to defend his country and trying to make life better for the Afghan people." On the website fastertimes.com, writer Lawrence Dabney recalled Will Stacey's exploits in Afghanistan: "He commanded the squad I was embedded with when I ended up in my first firefight, and it was plainer than anything that he kept the men under his command alive . . . He helped turn [the town of] Now Zad from a scarred hell to a place where hundreds of children can walk to school every day. He brought sanity and compassion to a place sorely in need of both." A 2006 graduate of Roosevelt High School, Stacey joined the Marines in January 2007 and rose swiftly through the ranks. His life and death have left a lasting impact on many lives. Survivors include his parents, Bob and Robin Stacey; sister Anna; girlfriend Kimmy Kirkwood, her parents Charlie and Linda, and her brothers Alex and Kyle Kirkwood; grandparents Gerald Chapman of Denver, CO, and Frank and Jean Stacey of Wilmington, Delaware; uncles and aunts Tom and Cheryl Stacey, Wes Chapman and Alison Sainsbury; cousins Connor Alisson and Eric Stacey; and godparents William Rich and Lawrence Duggan and Devon Miller-Duggan. Funeral arrangements are being managed by Evergreen-Washelli. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 11, at 4:00 pm in Meany Hall on the UW Campus. An informal reception will follow immediately afterward in the Meany Hall lobby. Interment will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers the Stacey and Kirkwood families request that donations be made to Roosevelt University Greenlake Little League, Attn: Will Stacey Memorial Fund, 9594 First Ave. NE, #122, Seattle, WA, 98115. Published in The Seattle Times on February 10, 2012. His parents, Robert and Robin Stacey, are university history professors.
Sgt. William C. Stacey, 23, of Redding, Calif., died Jan. 31 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and graduated from recruit training March 2007. He was soon assigned to the 81mm mortar platoon, weapons company, 2nd battalion, 4th Marines. He was a 2006 Roosevelt High School graduate and joined the Marines the following year; he signed up for a second four-year hitch last January. His father, Bob Stacey, a UW history professor, said, "Will believed this was the right thing to do, that it was the great challenge of his generation. He saw himself as helping to defend his country and trying to make life better for the Afghan people." On the website fastertimes.com, writer Lawrence Dabney recalled Will Stacey's exploits in Afghanistan: "He commanded the squad I was embedded with when I ended up in my first firefight, and it was plainer than anything that he kept the men under his command alive . . . He helped turn [the town of] Now Zad from a scarred hell to a place where hundreds of children can walk to school every day. He brought sanity and compassion to a place sorely in need of both." A 2006 graduate of Roosevelt High School, Stacey joined the Marines in January 2007 and rose swiftly through the ranks. His life and death have left a lasting impact on many lives. Survivors include his parents, Bob and Robin Stacey; sister Anna; girlfriend Kimmy Kirkwood, her parents Charlie and Linda, and her brothers Alex and Kyle Kirkwood; grandparents Gerald Chapman of Denver, CO, and Frank and Jean Stacey of Wilmington, Delaware; uncles and aunts Tom and Cheryl Stacey, Wes Chapman and Alison Sainsbury; cousins Connor Alisson and Eric Stacey; and godparents William Rich and Lawrence Duggan and Devon Miller-Duggan. Funeral arrangements are being managed by Evergreen-Washelli. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 11, at 4:00 pm in Meany Hall on the UW Campus. An informal reception will follow immediately afterward in the Meany Hall lobby. Interment will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers the Stacey and Kirkwood families request that donations be made to Roosevelt University Greenlake Little League, Attn: Will Stacey Memorial Fund, 9594 First Ave. NE, #122, Seattle, WA, 98115. Published in The Seattle Times on February 10, 2012. His parents, Robert and Robin Stacey, are university history professors.
