John Zok was born in 1918 in Massachusetts. He was the son of Jacob and Annie Zok of Lawrence MA.He had brothers Nicholas and Wasil, and a sister AnaStasia. He had completed four years of high school at the time of his enlistment, and was a textile worker in his civilian life.

He was a passenger of the B-25D #43-3671 plane assigned to the 2nd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron 'A Bit of Lace' Lt Knowlan's Crew at the time of his death. This crew was based at Gushkara, India. Their plane originally took off on 10 March 1945 from APO 690 shortly after daybreak on a staging mission to the destination of Chengtu, China, and there was an intermediate stop for refueling. There were six crew members and one passenger on board. Another B-25, piloted by 1st Lt John C Seales, ASN O-856381, also took off that same morning for the same destination just prior to this plane and was ahead of them by approximately 15 minutes. Both ships landed at Myitkyina, Burma for refueling prior to proceeding. Lieutenant Knowlan's crew, including CoPilot Lieutenant Cannon, took off from Myitkyina at 1327 hours local time just 17 minutes after Lieutenant Scales' plane. The aircraft took off and was not heard from again. Lieutenant Scales' crew arrived at Chengtu, China at 17323 hours, which was about one and a-half hours prior to sundown. No further contact was made with B-25D #43-3671 after takeoff.

Lieutenant Scales indicated that weather over the Hump was generally good with the exception of some cumulus build-up over ridges which could be topped or circumnavigated at an elevation of 12,000 feet, and his crew and plane were able to navigate without difficulty. The cumulus build-up near the first ridge east of Myitkyina was the highest at 12-15,000 feet. Visibility conditions in the valley areas were unlimited, and both aircraft and crews were prepared to utilize oxygen if necessary.

A total of four position reports were supposed to have been made in the course of the flight. Radio logs were checked and rechecked but no contact was discovered with Lieutenant Cannon's ship. Lieutenant Scales' plane had no record of contact with Lieutenant Cannon's ship post-departure from Myitkyina. Lieutenant Scales' ship had contacted the control at Yunnani and Ipin, and with the ground station in India.

A search was initiated by Search and Rescue units in the probable area of an accident as soon as the ship was declared missing. Search aircraft and ground search parties were deployed and were aided by Captain Wallace B Black, then acting Squadron Commander, who flew to Myitkina to ensure that the rescue units had accurate information on which to base the search. It was planned that search would continue in conjunction with searches for other downed in the same area.

The lost crew members were:
1st Lt William L Knowlan, Jr, Pilot, ASN O-701066, hometown Victoria TX
2nd Lt Charles A Cannon, Jr, CoPilot, ASN O-704460, hometown Concord NC
2nd Lt Charles H Janssen, Jr, Weather Observer, ASN O-574309, hometown St Paul MN
SSgt William H Hutchings, Jr, ROMG, ASN 11064264, hometown Fall River MA
SSgt Fred E Keup, Aerial Engineer, ASN 36325666, hometown Pontiac IL
2nd Lt Calvin D Sigrist, Navigator, ASN O-2058570, hometown Seattle WA
TSgt John Zok, Passenger, ASN 31072294, hometown Lawrence MA

Tsgt Zok is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov