Edwards, Stan

CS3 STANLEY KENNETH EDWARDS – 7 April 1961 – August 64

I Stanley Kenneth Edwards was born 20 February 1941 at Auburn, Maine. My eyes are blue and I had blonde hair. I enlisted in the U. S. Navy at Auburn, Maine on 25 August 1960, and went to boot camp, Company 409, at Great Lakes, Illinois.

My first duty station was aboard the heavy cruiser USS ROCHESTER (CA 124). She had teak decks, 8″ gun turrets, and 6″ mounts. Boy, did I do some holystoning! ROCHESTER was decommissioned.

On 7 April 1961, I was sent to USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754) where I was put in 2 Division and trained in gun fire control under a nd guy named Adams. The FT rate was slow, so I went to “S” Division, for cooking. I became a commissaryman. It was excellent duty and I gained knowledge and rate during the long days at sea.

The commissary men won the Ney Memorial Award in 1963 for “Most Outstanding General Mess Afloat.” Best Feeding Ship was quite a tradition to maintain. We had great teamwork.

I have always been grateful for the help I had coming up through the ranks. I made lots of friends through the years. Upon being discharged in Long Beach, California on 18 August 1964, I was offered employment as assistant manger of a restaurant chain.

After the Navy, I graduated from Long Beach City College with an AA in Industrial Relations. I have been living in Sequim, Washington since 1978. You can reach Stan at 301 N. 7 Avenue, #54th Sequim, WA 98382.

The Pacific Fleet destroyer U.S.S. FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754) has won
the Ney Memorial Award for 1963 after being judged as having the best general mess of any ship in the U.S. Navy. A unit of CruiserDestroyer Force, Pacific Fleet, the Long Beach based ship won out over U.S.S. ORISKANY (CVA 34) and U.S.S. VULCAN (AR 5). ORISKANY is an aircraft carrier which serves in the Pacific, while VULCAN is a repair ship operating in the Atlantic.

The Ney Memorial Award is presented annually to the ship and the shore station considered most outstanding in mess management, preparation and service of food. It is sponsored by the Armed Forces Branch of the Food Services Executive Association.

The Ney Memorial Award Committee visited and evaluated U.S.S. FRANK E. EVANS on 10 June whiled the ship was in San Diego. Winning awards in a highly competitive Navy is not a new feat for destroyermen of FRANK E. EVANS. The ship won the type commander’s mess management award for conventional destroyer-class ships in 1962 and was judged outstanding in her annual supply inspection in both 1962 and 1963.

EVANS is one of more than 150 combat ready ships under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Virden that served in the eastern and central Pacific as part of the U.S. First Fleet, and in the western Pacific as units of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. Commander N. W. Sanders of Long Beach is commanding officer of U.S.S. FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754).

This Is The Winning Menu

Onion Soup, Barbecued and Fried Chicken, Cream Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Southern Style Green Beans, O’Brien Whole Kernel Corn, Chilled Cranberry Sauce, Apple Pie with sliced American Cheese, Hot Dinner Rolls, Butter Patties, Assorted Salad Bar, Assorted Dressing, Hot Coffee, Fresh Milk, Chilled Chocolate Milk.

This is Who Made It Happen

CDR Nelson W. Sanders, Commanding Officer; LTJG Douglas C. Jacobs, Supply Officer; ENS Raymond L. Hahn, Assistant Supply Officer; CSC Delfin R. Marquez, Chief Commissaryman; BM1 Elmer F. Kelley Mess Decks, MAA. COOKS – CS2 E. W. Marchbanks, CS3 C. A. Maiorino, CS3 S. K. Edwards, SA A. E. Feulner. MESSMEN – SA J. A. Booher, FA D. J. Creed, RMSN J. A. Smith, SN W. S. Kuykendall, SN M. E. Kinney, SA F. D. Eddy, FA F. Rallo, FTGSN R. J. Wichman, FN P. E. Gebhard, SN T. C. Hewson, MMFN J. W. Hart.

OUR NAVY – OCTOBER 1963

In keeping with Navy Tradition, U.S.S. FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754) uses standard stock, six-section, tin trays. These present a problem since most meals over flow the 12″ X 18″ containers. Most FRANK E. EVANS’ sailors realize this, of course, and carefully stack their trays with crisp tossed salad topped with Thousand Island dressing, a slice or two of juicy roast beef, hot baked potatoes drenched in natural gravy and peas and carrots glistening with gently melting butter. Along with this goes a sprightly seasoned bowl of cream of tomato soup and hot rolls. This the poor fellow finishes off with milk, coffee, and rich chocolate ice cream served with a thick cut of light, white cake.

Food, important as it is, is not the only factor which determines the Ney contest winner, however. Cleanliness, serving techniques and management play key roles I the long fight for the award.

Two Supply Corps officers spent most of the final five hour inspection reviewing the ship’s commissary records. Serving techniques include the appearance of the food and the mess decks personnel, the condition of the food when it is served (is it hot?) and the promptness of each meal (does the chow go down on time?). FRANK E. EVANS came through on all points. Along with all these had to come cleanliness. In addition to serving and setting up tables, the mess-men must look out for cleanliness of the mess-decks. Three members of FRANK E. EVANS’ commissary team proudly display their work at the salad bar. From the left are SKSN Thomas R. Keller, “Jack-on-the Dust,” and cooks CS3 Carl A Maiorino, Jr, and CS3 Stanley E. Edwards. SN Earl M. Kinney, takes a sampling of the best food afloat. Kinney was the 3 Division mess man during the rd Ney Award Inspection. Elmer F. Kelley, BM1, mess-decks master at arms, oversees many hours of sweeping, swabbing, waxing, wiping and dusting on the mess-decks. Menus can offer well balance diets, commissary records might be perfect, serving techniques can shine like diamonds but ultimately the mess spaces and the ship must sparkle.

Although the Ney Award honors good food in 1016 afloat and 159
ashore messes throughout the Navy, FRANK E. EVANS’ award belongs
as much to the entire ship as it does to the commissary section.
The five man task force that boarded the ship for the final
inspection literally scattered from keel to mast. While the Supply
Officers combed the commissary records, a Supply Corp Captain and
two civilians from the Food Service Executive Association covered
spaces as far from the galley and scullery as the bridge, berthing
compartments, store rooms and main engine control.

Eleven mess-men, representing every division on the ship, and four cooks had readied the mess spaces. The remainder of the 265 man crew and her 15 officers took care of the rest of the ship. Their work included painting the entire exterior of the ship, welding and repairing those innumerable nubs and joints that always fail at the wrong time, and polishing each piece of brass and chrome on the 377-foot vessel.

The ship had some outside help. After winning the Group C Class competition in the Pacific Fleet for the 1962 Ney Award, FRANK E. EVANS was considered a prime contender for the beg award in 1963. When RADM Frank Virden, Commander Cruiser Destroyer Force Pacific, nominated FRANK E. EVANS for the semi-finals in May this year, he backed his ship all the way. He took an active interest in preparing her for the final inspection.

In the last few weeks before the Ney Award, the ship redecorated its mess-decks, repaired its World War II ovens and renovated part of its scullery room. All this was accomplished under the watchful eye and generous hand of RADM Virden. In addition, the ship’s force installed a new, transparent sneeze shield to protect the steam table. Observing this innovation one quick minded wag on the crew wanted to know if it was installed to prevent irate crew members from throwing food back at the servers.

Two days before the final inspection the Long Beach based destroyer sailed into San Diego Harbor and tied fast to a buoy. During this last 48 hours the crew concentrated its final energies on brightening the most remote corners of the ship. In the midst of this frantic drive to smooth out the finishing touches the Executive Officer called Port Services on an intra harbor radio circuit for a water barge “in order to complete preparations for the Ney Award Committee visit.” The answer came in a drab voice, “You’ll get your water, keep working.”

When the Ney Award Committee finally boarded FRANK E. EVANS on 10 June 1963, she was primed from stem to stern. With the chicken menu selected and the ship freshly painted a tire crew stood by in their best uniforms. They escorted committee members around the ship and answered their numerous questions. How do you like it aboard? What do you think of the food? Do you have enough to eat? What are the living conditions like?

When the Secretary of the Navy announced the Ney Award winner as U.S.S. FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754), the victory indeed belonged to the whole crew. It was something every man, whether by begging, borrowing, cooking, painting or polishing, had worked to attain. The announcement over the ship’s public address system brought a few scattered cheers and a host of tired, satisfied smiles.