“Easy Eddie”
 
Back in the day, Al Capone pretty much owned Chicago. Capone was no hero. He was notorious for embroiling the windy city in everything from illegal booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed. “Easy Eddy” He was the gangsters lawyer for a good reason. He was wicked good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal sleight of hand kept Capone out of jail for a long time.

Obviously, Capone really appreciated this. He paid him extremely well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special perks too. For example, he and his family occupied a huge fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The place was so large it filled an entire Chicago City block.
 
Our boy Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little thought to the mayhem that went on around him.

Eddie did have one Achilles heel, however. He had a son that he loved very much. He saw to it that his son had cars, clothes, and a good education. He held nothing back. Price was irrelevant. And, even though he was waist deep in organized crime, even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

That being said there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example. After some time, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. He wanted to rectify the wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the police and come clean about Capone, clean up his shattered name and offer his son some modicum of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be huge. But he did it anyway. What balls!

Well, you know what happened next, the poor mooks life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a deserted Chicago Street. But in his estimation, he had given his kid the greatest present he had to offer, at the biggest price he could ever pay. In his pockets were crucifix, a rosary, a religious medallion, and a poem he clipped from a magazine.

This is what the poem said: "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.'

 
Commander Butch O'Hare.

 
World War II produced a pack of heroes. One of them 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 company was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He wouldn’t have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight commander told him to return to the carrier. He didn’t want to but he dropped out of formation and headed back.
On his way back, he saw something that shook him to his core. A squadron of Japanese planes speeding toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a mission, and the fleet was defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet and he couldn’t warn them of the approaching danger. He had one choice, divert them from the fleet.

Ignoring his own safety, he pierced the formation of Japanese planes. 50 calibers attached to his wings raked them as he charged in. He attacked one enemy plane and then another. He wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was completely gone.

Even without ammo, he continued the assault. He dove at them, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unable to fly.

After a while, the frustrated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Butch O'Hare and his battered plane limped back to the carrier.

Upon his 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 level of his 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 Congressional Medal of Honor.

One year later Butch was killed in 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, take some time and visit Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor.
 
So, now your asking, “So, what the hell do these two stories have to do with each other?
 
Butch O'Hare was “Easy Eddie” O’Hares son.

Pretty f*****g Cool, huh?