>Two Astonishing Stories of Valor – Easy Eddie and Butch O’Hare

>Two Stories; both true, and worth  reading!!!!


STORY NUMBER ONE
Many years ago, Al 
Capone virtually owned  Chicago .  Capone wasn’t famous for  
anything heroic. He was notorious for  enmeshing the windy city in 
everything from  bootlegged booze and prostitution to  murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He  was Capone’s lawyer for a 
good reason.   Eddie was very good!  In fact, Eddie’s  skill at legal 
maneuvering kept Big Al out of  jail for a long time.


To show his appreciation, Capone paid him  very well.  Not only was the 
money big, but  Eddie got special dividends, as well. 
For  instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in  mansion 
with live-in help and all of the  conveniences of the day.  The 
estate  was so large that it filled an entire Chicago  City   block.

Eddie lived the high life of the 
Chicago mob  and gave little consideration to the atrocity  that went on 
around him.   

Eddie did  have one soft spot, however. He had a son that  he loved dearly. 
Eddie saw to it that his  young son had clothes, cars, and a good  
education. Nothing was withheld.    Price was no  
object.

And, despite his involvement 
with organized  crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from  
wrong.  Eddie wanted his son to be a  better man than he  was.

Yet,  with all his wealth and 
influence, there  were two things he couldn’t give his son; he  couldn’t
pass on a good name or a good  example.


One day, Easy Eddie  reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie  
wanted to rectify wrongs he had  done.

He decided  he would go to the authorities and tell the  truth about Al 
“Scarface” Capone, clean up his  tarnished name, and offer his son some 
semblance  of integrity.  To do this, he would have to  
testify against The Mob, and he knew that  the cost would be great. 
So, he  testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a  blaze of gunfire on a lonely 
Chicago Street  .  But in his eyes, he had given his son  the greatest gift 
he had to offer, at the  greatest price he could ever pay.  


Police  removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a  religious 
medallion, and a poem clipped from a  magazine.

The poem read:

“The clock  of life is wound but once, and no man has the  power to tell 
just when the hands will stop, at  late or early hour.  Now is the only time

you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no  faith in time.  For the 
clock may  soon be 
still.”


STORY NUMBER   TWO:

World War II produced many  

heroes.  One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch  O’Hare.

He  was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft  carrier Lexington in the 
South  Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a  mission.  After he was airborne, 
he looked  at his 
fuel gauge and realized that someone  had forgotten to top off his fuel  
tank.

He  would not have enough fuel to complete his  mission and get back to his 
ship.

His flight leader told  him to return to the carrier. 
Reluctantly,  he dropped out of formation and headed back to  
the  fleet.

As  he was returning to the 
mother ship, he saw  something that turned his blood cold; a squadron  of 
Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward  the American  fleet.

The  American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the  fleet was all but 
defenseless.  He  couldn’t
reach his squadron and bring them  back in time to save the fleet.  Nor 
could  he warn the fleet of the approaching  danger.
There was only one thing to do.   He must somehow divert them from the  
fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he  dove into the formation 
of Japanese  planes.  Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed  as he charged in, 
attacking one surprised enemy  plane and then another.  


Butch wove  in and out of the now broken formation and fired  at 
as many planes as possible until all his  ammunition was finally  
spent.

Undaunted, he continued the 
assault.   He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or  tail in hopes 
of damaging as many enemy planes  as possible, rendering 
them unfit to  fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took  off in another  direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare 
and his  tattered fighter limped back to the  carrier.


Upon  arrival, he reported in and related the event  surrounding his 
return.  The film from the  gun-camera mounted on his plane told the  tale.
It 
showed the extent of Butch’s  daring attempt to protect his fleet.  He  had,

in fact, 
destroyed five enemy aircraft.  This took place on February 20, 1942, 
and  for that action Butch became the Navy’s first  Ace of W.W.II, and the 
first Naval Aviator to  win the Medal of Honor.


A year later Butch was  killed in aerial combat at the age of 29.   His 
home town would not allow the memory of this  WW II hero to fade, and today,

O’Hare Airport in  Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of  this great

man.


So, the next time you find yourself  at O’Hare International, 
give some thought  to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his  statue and 
his Medal of Honor.  It’s  located between Terminals 1 &  2.



SO WHAT DO THESE TWO 
STORIES HAVE  TO DO WITH EACH  OTHER?


Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s”  son.

What A Great Day – With Glenn Beck At The Helm We Shall Not Fail!