He joined the Navy in 1941 and was assigned as a Navy combat artist, a role in which he witnessed the surrender of the Japanese on the U.S.S. MISSOURI. He was among the first U.S. military men to enter Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He became a commander and remained in the Naval Reserve. After the war, Stan returned to Santa Barbara and resumed painting. In 1956, he accompanied Admiral Byrd to Antarctica.
