Is the story of Butch O’Hare (for whom Chicago’s airport is named) true. I have seen the story floating around some website and had it sent to me at the office and well… It just sounds too schmaltzy to be true. In a nut shell the story says that Butch’s father was Al Capone’s lawyer and he was subsequently gunned down when he decided to live a rigeous life for his son’s (young Butch) benefit. I have included a link to the most recent version…
My question is, is it true? Am I that jaded that I can’t accept these kind and giving gestures?
It’s possible, I suppose. But if Easy Eddie were Al Capone’s lawyer, attorney-client privilege would prevent him from disclosing too much in the way of usable evidence against Capone. So I find it highly doubtful, based on that alone.
It’s one of the chicken soup for the soul stories liberally spiced with bunkum and a tiny pinch of truth.
“One time his entire squadron was assigned to fly a particular mission”
The particulars of the ‘mission’ are this. On February 20, 1942, the USS Lexington was steaming towards Rabaul in the South Pacific. The Lexington was spotted by a Japanese scout plane. Two waves of nine Japanese bombers each were dispatched to attack the Lexington. The first wave was destroyed by fighters and anti-aircraft guns of the ships.
A second group of six fighters, including Butch O’Hare, was launched to intercept the second wave of bombers. O’Hare and his wingman first spotted the bombers and dove to meet them. Unfortunately, O’Hare’s wingman had to turn away from the combat because his guns had jammed and the rest of the fighters were too far away from the bombers to engage them before they attacked the Lexington.
Being the lone combatant did not deter O’Hare. O’Hare downed five bombers in ten minutes and broke up the attack. His actions earned him him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“Someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank”
Pure invention, O’Hare had sufficient fuel to engage the bombers.
“His flight leader told him to leave formation and return”
Never happened.
“A squadron of Japanese Zeroes”
A squadron of Zeroes, the highly effective Japanese fighters, would have been no threat to the Lexington as they could carry no bombs but a very great threat to the F4F Wildcat flown by O’Hare. O’Hare would have been very lucky to survive a dogfight with nine Zeroes.
“Then he would dive and try to clip off a wing or tail”
O’Hare did run out of ammunition but I have not found anything to suggest he tried to chew up the bombers manually. In fact, the writer may have confused O’Hare’s action with the action of Elbert McCluskey in the Battle of Midway. In a similar action, McCluskey was flying CAP with three other fighters over the Yorktown and shot down three Japanese bombers. Out of ammunition, his commanding officer, John Thach, suggested that McCluskey try to chop off the tail of a bomber with his propeller but McCluskey declined. The details of both actions are similar; John Thach also flew in both combats.
“The Japanese squadron took off in another direction”
O’Hare did break the back of the attack but the remaining bombers did press on against the Lexington. The remaining fighters and anti-aircraft guns of the ships prevented the attack from seriously threatening the Lexington.
“Butch O’Hare and his fighter, both badly shot up”
O’Hare was not wounded in the action.
“He told his story, but not until the film from the camera on his plane was developed”
O’Hare’s exploits were witnessed by the crew of the Lexington as well as the other fighters involved. In fact, O’Hare could not have been recommended for a decoration unless it was witnessed by someone else.
“Easy Eddie was Al Capone’s lawyer”
While Butch’s father, Edward J. O’Hare, was a lawyer engaged in legal work for Capone and his main duties were those of running the
Sportsman Park Racetrack in Cicero, Illinois for the benefit of Capone.
How does an enterprising young lawyer in St. Louis cross paths with a Chicago mob boss? Mechanical rabbits.
Edward O’Hare helped the inventor of the mechanical rabbit used in dog racing, Oliver P. Smith, patent and then market the rabbit. In 1927, Smith died and O’Hare gained full control over the invention. O’Hare soon migrated to Chicago and the combination of dog racing and gambling led him into Capone’s circle. At some point in his life, O’Hare did inform on Capone.
It is not exactly clear how deeply involved Edward O’Hare was in the Capone gang. At some point in his career, O’Hare beat a bootlegging wrap in St. Louis.(1)
Stories about Capone and the mob tend to the lurid and facts are difficult to determine. One account claims that the price of E. J. O’Hare information in the prosecution of Capone was Butch’s acceptance into the Naval
Academy.(2) This seems unlikely as the tax evasion charges that put Capone in the federal pen were first brought in 1931, a year before Butch graduated from military school. The tax evasion charges were the long work of Eliot Ness and others.
Whatever transgressions O’Hare may have committed, he was gunned down by two unknown assailants in 1939, shortly after Capone was released from federal prison.
“Clothes, cars, and a good education”
E. J. O’Hare sent Butch to military school when he was thirteen. Upon graduation from Western Military Academy, Butch went on to the U.S. Naval Academy. It seems unlikely that Butch had much a chance to enjoy his father’s wealth, whether dirty money or not.
And what is the rest of story? Butch O’Hare did not die that day he shot down five planes in ten minutes. He was promoted to an air group commander on the USS Enterprise and developed risky night fighter
tactics:
I’ve always liked the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair. In spite of its sexy role on Baa Baa Black Sheep (aka Black Sheep Squadron), it only shot down about 1/10 the number of enemy aircraft as the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
I read somewhere that the Corsair “shot down 1,399 enemy aircraft and sawed down one”, the latter by destroying a “Betty” bomber’s tail with it’s propeller.
Can anyone verify this story and provide the name of the pilot?
I also heard that the inverted-gull-wings were required because the prop was so big it would not clear the deck, the landing gear having been short and robust to handle rough carrier landings. True?
Finally, I know Shuling Barnes, the daughter-in-law of famed aviatrix Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes. (I learned to fly at Barnes Aviation and knew Bill Barnes as well.) At my father’s memorial she told me she owns Pancho’s TravelAire Mystery “S”. It’s in pieces in a hangar (basically it’s just a skeleton) at a private field. I should take her up on her offer to see it.