The letter of a young fallen Marine to his family became the focal point of the observance of Memorial Day by service members serving in Kabul, Afghanistan.

A letter written by U.S. Marine Sgt. William Stacey, who was killed earlier this year because of a homemade bomb in southern Afghanistan, was read out by Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, during a Memorial Day service Monday in Kabul. The ceremony was done in memory of service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country, since the war began in 2001.

Allen, who also leads the NATO coalition in Afghanistan, shared: “Today we remember his life and his words, for they speak resoundingly and timelessly for our fallen brothers and sisters in arms.”

Stacey was killed in Helmand Province on January 30. At the time of his death, he was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan, and in a letter to his family, the Marine from Redding, California, shared that his motivation in Afghanistan involves protecting the children of America, and providing them “the opportunity to go to school and live out their dreams.”

Stacey wrote: “There will be a child who will live because men left the security they enjoyed in their home to come to his… He will have the gift of freedom which I have enjoyed for so long myself, and if my life brings the safety of a child who will one day change the world, then I know that it was all worth it.”