Memorial Day: Two Stories

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

A couple of Memorial Day stories; both true and worth reading.

STORY #1

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 and business management 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 city block.

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

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son whom 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, for 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. For most of his life, that was a price he was willing to pay, but eventually federal agents started to tighten the noose around the Mob’s operations, and Easy Eddie was pressured to turn state’s evidence. He knew that the cost would be great, but he testified anyway.

Within the year, on 1939 Nov. 8, 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.

Among the items the police found in his pockets was a poem clipped from a magazine. It 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 #2

World War 2 produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare, a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.

On 1943 Nov. 26 his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, Butch looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his 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, Butch 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 them of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert the Japanese Zeroes from his comrades.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50-caliber guns 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 dived 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-mounted camera 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. For that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of WW2, and the first naval aviator to win the Congressional 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 WW2 hero to fade, and in 1949 the city renamed O’Hare Airport 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 and 2.

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

Butch O’Hare was Easy Eddie’s son.

The Gotch

[worth1]

Al Capone also ran a soup kitchen in Chicago during the depression.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Al Capone also ran a soup kitchen in Chicago during the depression.

He also had vacation property in Northern WESconsin https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id235.htm

The Gotch

[worth1]

Al Capone also ran a soup kitchen in Chicago during the depression.

He also had vacation property in Northern WESconsin https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id235.htm

The Gotch

I had no idea he even went hunting or anything.

[PlainJane]

That’s just crazy.

[worth1]

That’s just crazy.

Not related but at the same time Hot Springs Arkansas was a big gangster hangout as well.
I lived really close to it and was there many times and never knew it.

https://www.hotsprings.org/explore/hist ... l%20Capone.

[worth1]

Then something I've always known about was operation underworld.
How the Mafia helped the US during the war.
My father told me about it and how they guaranteed no strikes during the war.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Underworld