When Richard “Dale” Storr sat in solitary confinement outside Basra, Iraq, his cell walls were so thick that he couldn’t hear if anyone else was in the jail. This Saturday, the four walls of his neighborhood bar will be so full of people that he probably won’t be able to hear much else.
On Feb. 2, 1991, Storr — or “Storr Man,” as the fighter pilot was known — was shot down and captured on a Desert Storm mission. The Gulf War ended on Feb. 28, and a week later, Storr was released to make his way back home to Spokane. Today, Storr owns Hi Neighbor Tavern, a sports bar on North Monroe Street that’s over 50 years old.
Every year, Storr celebrates his “Freedom Day” with family and friends. But this year, Hi Neighbor staff are planning the biggest bash yet. On March 16, Hi Neighbor is hosting a celebration of the perfect storm: Storr’s Freedom Day on March 6, St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, and Storr’s birthday on March 18. The open house starts at 1 pm and goes until the party’s over. There will be plenty of drinking, reminiscing and one-upping stories. And despite Storr’s disapproval, there will definitely be cake.
Storr graduated from Shadle Park High School in 1979 and went on to Washington State University, graduating in 1983 with a mechanical engineering degree. His original goal was to fly a space shuttle, but at a towering 6 foot 5 inches, Storr eventually found out he wouldn’t fit in the cockpit.
So Storr joined the Air Force, the same branch his father had served in during the Vietnam War. He was eventually sent to Kuwait in August 1990 to fly an A-10 Thunderbolt II, commonly referred to as a “Warthog.” Right after hitting his target during a Groundhog Day mission, his plane was shot down by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery.
Storr’s radio was busted, and he ejected so late that his open parachute caught fire as he landed close to the burning jet. His wingman lost connection, saw the fireball, and came to a reasonable conclusion, reporting that Storr was probably dead. The Air Force listed him as “missing in action” but also held a memorial service for him.
Storr was alive, albeit captured and confined in a prisoner of war camp built on top of an underground Iraqi bunker. He was interrogated and tortured daily until the guards transferred the prisoners to a different jail. The POWs boarded a bus with no seats.
“On the right side, there was this real scraggly looking guy who looked like shit — gray hair, ugly, beat up, yellow [POW] pajamas,” Storr says. “I was like, ‘Man, don’t put me next to him.’ Sure enough, boom. Right next to him. So I nudge him. And he nudges me back. And I whispered, ‘Dale Storr, American.’ He comes back, ‘Bob Simon, CBS News.’ That was Bob Simon. He looked like shit.”
Storr was no pretty picture himself — broken nose, shaved head, bruised face. Simon had a similar adverse reaction to seeing Storr and recorded it in his memoir, Forty Days.
“I met Bob Simon at the 25th anniversary POW reunion,” says Cathy Hudek, Storr’s wife. “Those two argued about who looked worse for about 10 minutes.”
“I guarantee you he looked worse,” laughs Storr.
Storr’s family learned that he was alive by watching a CNN report. His mother, brothers and sister were waiting to meet him at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland when he finally touched down on American soil. When they all got back to Fairchild, someone had donated a limousine to take them the rest of the way home. But Storr’s best friend, Ken Lundy, was waiting for him in a Budweiser truck.
His family took the limousine, but Storr hopped in the beer truck with Lundy, who took him directly to Taco Time’s old Monroe Street location for an order of Mexi fries. Lundy was a Budweiser salesman and introduced Storr to lots of bar owners. Eventually, the duo bought Hi Neighbor, already an established and beloved neighborhood bar. The rest is history.
Storr still flies for United once or twice a month, mostly trips across the Pacific to Singapore or Melbourne, Australia. The staff at Hi Neighbor don’t need him around, though they love it when he is. He’s the type of owner who knows most of the regulars just as well as they do, and will take money out of his own pocket to help employees in an emergency.
Storr is an easy person to celebrate any day, but especially the day that marks his release back to Spokane. Storr is happy to share the celebration with St. Patrick, the unofficial patron saint of drinking. Hi Neighbor is always open until 2 am, but the good times might flow a little later this Saturday. It’s a ruckus that Storr will never take for granted. ♦
Dale Storr’s Freedom Day Celebration • Sat, March 16 from 1 pm to close • 21+ • Hi Neighbor Tavern • 2201 N. Monroe St. • 509-325-9079
