Al Capone, the Chicago gangster, had a smart lawyer whose nick name was “Easy Eddie.” “Easy Eddie” was smart, and kept Capone out of jail many times. As a reward, he was extremely well paid, and was furnished with a huge estate, live in servants and all the luxuries anyone could ever want. “Easy Eddie” was eventually gunned down in a typical gangster assassination, but his son, “Butch,” who he raised well and with none of the criminal associations and outlooks he, the father had, turned out OK.
During WW II, Butch joined the air force and became a fighter pilot in the South Pacific. One day, his squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, Butch discovered that the ground crew had neglected to top off his fuel tank, and he would not have enough to finish the mission. His flight leader told him to return to his carrier. On his was back to the mother ship, he observed a squadron of Jap planes headed towards the American fleet. His squadron was off on their sortie, and there was no way he could signal them to return in time to avoid a tragic bombing of the American fleet.
Butch dove into the Jap planes, and his wing mounted 50 caliber guns blazed away at the surprised Japs, hitting and knocking out one after the other, till had shot down five altogether. Fuel low and guns empty, he tried clipping their wings with his plane, and doing everything he could to drive them away. He did, and the Japs fled, thanks to one man’s heroism, bravery, and skill. When he limped back to his carrier, his gun cameras told the whole story. This took place on February 20, 1942, and Butch became the first Navy Ace of WW II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A year later, he was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29, but his home town would never forget this son of Al Capone’s crooked lawyer, who had raised his son so well. Chicago named its airport after that lawyer’s son, whose name was Butch O’Hare. Next time you fly into or out of O’Hare in Chicago, remember the WWII hero son of Al Capone’s shyster lawyer, who raised him so well.