Edward “Butch” O’Hare was born the son of a lawyer.  His father, “Artful Eddie” O’Hare, was lawyer to Al Capone.  When he thought about the future he was creating for his son, he decided he had to do something to get his son out of the mob business.  He contacted the IRS and offered to rat out his boss.  He put the IRS in contact with Capone’s bookkeeper and the government was able to convict Scarface of tax evasion.  Before the trial, Eddie informed the judge of the trial about jury tampering by Capone and a whole new jury was empaneled and Capone was convicted of income tax evasion.   Edward, Junior was given an appointment to the Naval Academy and eventually became a pilot.  By then, “Artful Eddie” had been killed in a drive-by.  On Feb. 20, 1942, Butch was scrambled from the deck of the USS Lexington when two waves of Japanese Betty bombers were picked up on radar.  One wave of nine was intercepted by six F4F Wildcats led by the soon to be famous fighter tactics innovator Jimmy Thach.  The formation was broken up.  But the other formation was heading unimpeded to the carrier.  Only O’Hare and his wingman were available for intercept.  His wingman’s guns jammed, so it was all up to Butch.  He had only about 30 seconds of ammo, but he was a crack shot.  In the next few minutes, he shot down five bombers and damaged a sixth.  It is estimated he needed only 60 rounds per victim.  He became the Navy’s first ace and probably saved the carrier.  (Later research showed he actually downed three and damaged three.)  He was presented with the Medal of Honor at the White House on April 21, 1942.  He returned to active duty and on Nov. 26, 1943, he was on the first nighttime carrier defense mission in Navy history.  The idea was to pair a radar-equipped Avenger torpedo bomber with two F6F Hellcats to intercept Japanese bombers at night.  It was called a “Bat Team” and it was a dangerous concept, especially in the beginning.  Apparently, the Avenger spotted a Betty above and behind them.  The Avenger gunner opened fire and so did the Betty.  It is likely O’Hare’s plane was caught in the crossfire.  Most likely, his plane was hit by the Betty and went down.  In 1949, Chicago’s Orchard Depot Airport was renamed O’Hare International Airport.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/26/the-incredible-life-and-terrible-death-of-the-navys-first-world-war-ii-ace/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O%27Hare

The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp.  154-155

Categories: Anecdote

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