- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJ. Royden Stork
- Mr. Stork died at age 85. He was a WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber co-pilot who took part in the Tokyo raid on April 18, 1942. This raid was lead by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle. This was the first successful U.S. retaliatory strike after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan. Mr. Stork was the co-pilot of the 10th of 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers to take off from the deck of the USS Hornet. This had never been tried before and the mission was considered a suicide mission for the 80 men leaving since the B-25 was not designed for taking off a carrier - but was designed for taking off from land. Mr. Stork's plane bombed its designated chemical plant target and flew until it was out of gas. He parachuted to safety over occupied China. After the war, Mr. Stork went to Hollywood and made his career as a make-up artist for Fox Studios.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- Although born in Minnesota, Roy Stork was raised in San Diego, California and attended San Diego State College before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps on 25 November 1940. He completed advanced flight training in April 1941 and became a co-pilot of a North American B-25B Mitchell medium bomber.
In early 1942, Second Lieutenant Stork was one of the airmen selected to participate in the attack on Japan lead by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. He was also appointed photographic officer for the unit that flew the mission. On 18 April 1942, Doolittle led sixteen B-25s flying off the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. Stork was co-pilot of the tenth aircraft; their primary target was the Japan Special Steel Co., located in southern Tokyo. They were also assigned a secondary target, a nearby precision-instrument factory. Stork's B-25 encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire over Japan and the rear of the fuselage and a wing tip were damaged but they continued on towards China. The aircraft were buffeted by a storm and ran out of fuel after crossing the Chinese coast forcing the five-man crew to bail out. After walking a day, he encountered friendly Chinese who led him to the pre-determined rendezvous point three days away. All five crewmen in Stork's aircraft had survived the bail out and rejoined the American forces in Asia.
Stork was reassigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces Tenth Air Force in India and flew combat missions against the Japanese in Burma and southeast Asia for the next sixteen months. However, U.S. intelligence learned that the Japanese had placed a $5,000 bounty on the heads of the 73 surviving Doolittle raiders and those still serving in Asia were grounded. Stork returned to the U.S. and flew transports for the Air Transport Command and also evaluated equipment for the rest of the war.
He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of captain after having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, and the Chinese Army, Navy and Air Corps Medal Class A First Grade. The latter medal had been presented to him by Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the wife of the Chinese leader.
By 2001, there were only eight surviving Doolittle Raiders and they were very upset about how Doolittle and the raid were portrayed in the film Pearl Harbor (2001). All eight met with the screenwriter, Randall Wallace, to express their displeasure but their complaints were ignored.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseKay Adelle(1957 - May 2, 2002) (his death)
- Stork was co-pilot of the 10th of 16 B-25 Mitchell Army Air Corps bombers which took off from U.S.S. Hornet in the Doolittle Raid on April 25, 1942, which was portrayed in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). After bombing a chemicals plant he flew his plane onto occupied China until it ran out of gas. He parachuted to safety and was soon repatriated to the States. After the war he made a name as a Hollywood make-up artist.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content