Kevin Nelson, Special to the Herald

Eight years ago, on Jan. 31, 2012, a young Marine Sergeant named William Chapman Stacey was killed while serving his country during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Now, Sgt. Stacey is a central figure in an intriguing mystery in the hills of Benicia and Vallejo. And Benicia and Solano County residents may be able to help solve it.

Like every good mystery, this one has several interesting and different threads. One is Will Stacey, who died a month and a day before his 24th birthday. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division. This famous fighting unit is known within the Marine Corps as the “Magnificent Bastards.” While on foot patrol in Helmand Province in Afghanistan, an IED—Improvised Explosive Device—was set off and it took his life. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Stacey was in his fourth deployment in that Asian country and his fifth overseas. While fighting the Taliban and other enemies, he and his fellow Magnificent Bastards also built schools in the area and then provided security for local children so they could walk to those schools without fear of being kidnapped or harmed.

During this time he wrote a very personal “in case of death letter” to his fiancée and parents, saying that “if my life buys the safety of a child who will one day change the world, then I know it was worth it.” The story of this letter and his sacrifice spread on social media and brought national media attention.

But I knew none of this when I was walking the hills with my dog the other day. Entering the open space at the foot of Bantry Way in the Southampton section of town, we headed along the trail until we reached a hill to our right. It is a steep but manageable climb to the top. From there we crossed over to the next hill where I noticed the tribute to Sergeant Stacey.

The site was chosen for a reason; it is the highest hill in this series of hills that runs along the upper reaches of Benicia and Vallejo. It is in the green space buffer zone that connects the two cities and technically it is probably located in Vallejo. Hikers and runners pass by it daily, some of them making the long trek up the Bay Area Ridge Trail from the bottom of Rose or coming from Vallejo along the ridgetop. On windy days paragliders launch into flight from the grasslands around here.

The William Chapman Stacey plaque sits at the front of a pile of rocks on the site. The plaque is made of wood and the words on it are carved lightly into it by hand. They say his rank, his name, the date of his death and that it occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom. The inscription includes a deeply personal message as well.

It says: “Live the good life. Fight the good fight. All good fighters die with their boots on.”

It notes his Marine battalion and ends with this defiant call: “No mercy.” One can imagine the person who made the plaque doing the carving with a heart of sorrow but also immensely proud of their departed warrior-friend.

Being a writer and moved by this heartfelt tribute, I returned home to find out more about Sgt. Stacey and why there was a memorial plaque for him on this isolated hilltop. My online searches produced a surprising discovery. He did not come from either Benicia or Vallejo and does not have any apparent connection with either city.

His residence at the time of death was listed as Redding, in northern California. But he grew up, played Little League ball and went to school in Seattle, WA where an American Legion post is named in his honor. His parents, Robin and Bob Stacey, are professors at the University of Washington and live in Washington state. When I contacted them about their son, emailing pictures of the site, they had never heard about the plaque.

“Thank you so much for writing us about this memorial,” said Bob. “We did not know anything about it, but as you can imagine, we are very touched by it. It is particularly moving to us that your message came to us just two weeks before the anniversary of his death,” he added.

He wrote that his son’s home base was in Camp Pendleton in San Diego, “but Benicia (or Vallejo) is quite a distance from Camp Pendleton. But perhaps one of Will’s fellow Marines, maybe someone in Will’s squad, erected it? It would be interesting to know.”

The rock pile along the trail contains another mystery besides this one. There are two Marines who are honored on this high hill with its 360-degree views of the Carquinez Strait and Zampa Bridge, San Pablo Bay, Mount Tamalpais, Mount Diablo, and the Delta to the east.

The tribute to the other Marine, however, has only one name attached to it: “Guillot.” Next to his name is the word “Marines” in upper case letters. Below it is a representation of the American flag, clouded over with moisture. Above it is a small wooden bald eagle with its wings outspread. (An eagle forms part of the official Marine emblem.) There are also two small American flags planted in the dirt in the rocks, one for Sergeant Stacey and one for this soldier for whom we know nothing but his last name.

Who was Guillot? Will Stacey’s father would like to know. “Can you tell us who the other Marine is who is memorialized with Will?” he asked. He sent the pictures to Will’s sister Anna, who zeroed in on a close-up of the tribute and speculated that Guillot may have served in the same squad as her brother. That the two of them, being brothers-in-arms who fought side by side in a faraway conflict in a hostile land, are now being informally honored together in their homeland.

But we don’t know. It may be that Guillot is alive and not a casualty of war; that would be the best outcome. But what is his story? And who erected this tribute and why? Who searched the hillside, gathered the stones, assembled them here? Based on the age and condition of the Guillot tribute, it is possible that his came first, followed later by the one for Sergeant Stacey. But who put that one up? Was it the same person who was honoring Guillot?

The Stacey family would surely like to thank whoever put up the memorial for the young man they love dearly and still think about every day. And it seems fitting, and right, that at the very least we recognize the first name of the other hilltop hero.

Can you help? If you have any knowledge of these matters, please contact me at nelsonwrites@comcast.net. Your privacy will be respected should you wish to remain anonymous.