Roy 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.