Two Stories

[Haligan]

Subject:

History

Lesson... Two Stories...







STORY

NUMBER ONE

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 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 Chicago City

block.
Eddie

lived the high life of the Chicago
mob and gave little

consideration to the atrocity 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.
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, 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. Easy Eddie wanted

to rectify wrongs he had

done.
He decided

he would 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 that the
cost

would be great. But, 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

NUMBER

TWO

World

War II produced many heroes. One
such man 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 squadron was sent on a
mission. After he was

airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and
realized

that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel

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, he 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 the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only

one thing to
do. He must somehow divert them from the

fleet.
Laying

aside all thoughts of personal
safety, he dove into the

formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted
50 caliber's

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
dove 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-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
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.
A year

later Butch was killed in aerial
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, 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

TWO STORIES HAVE
TO DO WITH EACH

OTHER?

Butch

O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son

[ARB]

That is heavy.

[Just One Shot]

Run this through snopes.com and you get some interesting info on both Eddie and Butch.

[Mr. Nameless]

Wow....

[Suicide*Ride]

I agree w/ ARB...... very heavy!

Thanks for sharing Haligan. I'll be sharing this w/ others!

SR

[Haligan]

Originally Posted by Just One Shot

Run this through snopes.com and you get some interesting info on both Eddie and Butch.

If this isn't a true story,.......... then it ought to be.

[Suicide*Ride]

Originally Posted by Haligan

If this isn't a true story,.......... then it ought to be.

I checked...... it's true.

SR

[artabr]

Kinda like the Bulger brothers.
I'm not trying to equate a MOH recipient to a politician by any means here. Just how 1 brother takes one path and the other takes another.

One, William "Billy" Bulger, rises up in Massachusetts state politics to become President of the State Senate and then President of the University of Massachusetts.

The other, James "Whitey" Bulger, ends up on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list (he's #4 on the list, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_Ten...nted_Fugitives) , where he remains wanted for 19 counts of murder, among other charges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Bulger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Bulger



Art