Stephenson, Jerry

BT 2 JERRY. L. STEPHENSON 20 April 1962

I “Steve,” was born on a farm east of Bremen, Ohio, 26 June 1941. My hair and eyes were brown. I entered the Navy 12 August 1958, at Lancaster, Ohio and went to San Diego for recruit training because Great Lakes was closed for renovation. I was in Company 492,a brigade winner.

I joined the Navy to be a pilot via the Silver Eagles program but as you can see I wasn’t even close. My first ship was USS DEHAVEN (DD 727). I made Westpac cruises on her as well as put her through FRAM at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco. After 3+ years in her, I reenlisted for BT “B” school in Philadelphia. After graduating in February 1962 I received orders for USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754). I was a happy puppy to be going back to the 2200 ton destroyers.

As BT2 JERRY L. STEPHENSON, I was aboard USS FRANK E. EVANS for about nine months in 1962. I was assigned to “B” Division. Prior to departing for Westpac, all of the ORI drills for the steam plant, as well as the rest of the ship, had been conducted. During a full power run, the fuel oil heaters in the forward fireroom blew a gasket resulting in a fuel spill and a stop bell. I was assigned After Fireroom. Of course this was a very big moment for us deep hole snipes. I remembered that we came out of that steaming auxiliary on #3 boiler. If memory serves me correctly, it happened again shortly after resuming full power trials. What a day!

FRANK E. EVANS departed for Westpac in June 1962. During the deployment, while tied up along side USS DIXIE in Sasebo, Japan, I met a BT2 who was not happy with service on a repair ship. In my mind, repair ships were the closest thing to shore duty a BT could get in those days. We managed a swap and that ended my tour of duty aboard USS FRANK E. EVANS.

I eventually went to Nuclear Power school, stayed as an Instructor and then spent over four years on board USS LONG BEACH (CGN 9), including Vietnam deployments. My last ship was USS SPIEGEL GROVE LSD-32 out of Little Creek, Virginia. I had numerous Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises to go along with the Westpac tours.

I retired as a BTC with 22 years service, with 12 years active and 10 years reserve. I then spent the rest of my working life as a Stationary Engineer and a Boiler Inspector.

Currently, Jerry L. Stephenson, BTC USN Retired resides at 2340 Pumpkinvine Road SE, Lancaster, Ohio 43130-8010. You can reach him at JerryDD727@aol.com or by phone at Home 740-569-1053, or his Cell 740-503-2073.