Story # 1 Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for filling the city with bootlegged booze, prostitutes, and murder. Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a very long time. To show his appreciation, Capone paid Eddie very well and provided him with a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all 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 atrocities 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. Despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach his son 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. He wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided to 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 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 # 2 World War II produced many heroes. One such man was 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 realized that someone had forgotten to fuel up his aircraft. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and make it back to the 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 ship he saw something that turned his blood cold: a squadron of Japanese aircraft were speeding their way toward the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a mission, 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 thought of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mouthed 50 calibers blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane after another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was 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 and 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 5 enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of WWII, and the first Naval Aviator to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His hometown would not allow the memory of this WWII 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 and 2. SO WHAT DO THESE 2 STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER? Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son.
Thank you for sharing this with us Albert. Eddie certainly taught his son something about courage, or should I say Karma?
Great first post Albert! This is a story that has circulated the web for some time, I think I've received in my email inbox at least a couple of times over the past few years. It is a great story, one of my favorites actually (especially since I now live in Chicago), but upon scrutiny it seems that it's less a story of atonement and more a story of self preservation. According to snopes.com: Origins: Some parts of this glurge about Edgar Joseph "Easy Eddie" O'Hare (also known as EJ) and his son, Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare, are true, if exaggerated in the presentation above. The senior O'Hare provided legal services to Al Capone and later helped the government bring that notorious gangster to justice on tax fraud charges in 1931, then was murdered on 8 November 1939. (Exactly who killed Eddie O'Hare has always been a subject for debate, but the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he was killed on orders from Capone for having given information to the government that led to Capone's imprisonment.) Eddie's son Butch was a pilot who died in the Pacific during World War II when he failed to return to his carrier after a night mission on 26 November 1943, and Chicago's O'Hare airport was indeed named in his honor. (Dispute remains over exactly what happened to Butch, a Medal of Honor winner, but the preponderance of the evidence indicates his plane was downed by friendly fire rather than Japanese Zeroes.) This glurge completely jumps the tracks, however, in trying to turn the story of Eddie and Butch O'Hare into a tale of redemption, a little morality play to demonstrates the importance of recognizing the errors of one's ways, of atoning for one's misdeeds, of trying to do right and prevent one's sins from being visited on future generations. Those are all valuable lessons, but they have precious little to do with this story. Eddie O'Hare was not just a gangster's lawyer, he was also a partner in some of Al Capone's illegal activities. Despite having entered a profession in which he was expected, of all things, to uphold the law, the senior O'Hare broke the law to enrich himself through unethical and illegal schemes in partnership with the most notorious gangster in American history. What's more, he served Capone as an attorney and business manager, aiding the mobster in setting up illegal enterprises and helping to keep Capone and his cronies out of prison. When "Easy Eddie" did eventually provide information that aided federal authorities in sending Capone to prison for income tax evasion, it was far less likely that he did it because he had an attack of conscience, wanted to right the wrongs he'd done, or sought to teach his son the value of integrity. More probably he turned state's evidence because he could see the handwriting on the wall: Capone was going to be nailed with or without his assistance, but by doing the government a favor Eddie could keep himself out of prison. (Some sources even suggest the connections Eddie made by turning government informant were what got his son Butch a berth at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.) Perhaps Eddie O'Hare believed or knew he would be killed for what he had done; perhaps not. Either way, it was his son Butch who redeemed the family name through his wartime bravery and heroism, and the price he paid for that redemption was his life. None of that redemption was achieved through the actions of Easy Eddie. Was the elder O'Hare "able to pass the value of integrity on to his son"? If his actions illustrated anything, it was just the opposite of integrity: if you're clever enough and sufficiently lacking in moral values you can live a life of wealth and privilege by victimizing others, and if your gravy train should ever derail you can adopt an "every man for himself" attitude and save your own skin by ratting on your associates. Butch O'Hare was suitably honored when the Chicago airport known as Orchard Depot was renamed O'Hare International in 1949. It's unfortunate that he and the airport have to share the O'Hare name with his unscrupulous father. The link is here: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/ohare.asp
Who knows what went through the heads of two dead men who left no memoirs nor do we have other sources? First of all, I just loved the sentence "Despite having entered a profession in which he was expected, of all things, to uphold the law". It's a beautiful world, isn't it :clown: ? The fact that the criminal lawyer turned snitch of course does not imply any kind of redemption at all, as you say maybe the fellow was simply intelligent enough to see which way the wind was turning and became state evidence. That's common enough. And if he had managed to survive and ingratiate himself as lawyer to Scarface the he must have been very intelligent indeed. As for his son, we have no clue how and/or if his father's career did influence his feelings or actions. The fact remains that - father or no father - he won a MoH. The father was a 'pentito', the son a hero .
