Staff Sergeant Stanphill was the tail gunner of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. On 3 March 1951, while returning from a combat mission, his aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea as it approached Iwakuni Air Strip.

Stanphill was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.