Great Story!

I don't normally just copy things and post them here.  What fun is there in that?  But here's an exception.  A friend sent me the story below.  Or rather the two stories below.  Really worth the read.

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 called Easy Eddie (aka “Fast Eddie”). Easy Eddie was Capone’s lawyer and for a good reason. He was very good!  In fact, his 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; Eddie got special dividends. 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. Yes, Easy 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 son had the best of everything; 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. Yes, Eddie tried to teach his son to rise above his own sordid life. He wanted him to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence there were two things that Eddie couldn’t give his son.

     Two things that Eddie sacrificed to the Capone mob that he could not pass on to his beloved son: a good name and a good example.

     One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Offering his son a good name was far more important than all the riches he could lavish on him. He had to rectify all the wrong that he had done. He would go to the authorities and tell them the truth about Scar-face Al Capone. He would try to clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this he must testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. But more than anything, he wanted to be a good example to his son. He wanted to do his best to make restoration and hopefully have a good name to leave his son.

     So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street. He had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer at the greatest price he would 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 Lt. Commander  Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to an 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 mothership, he saw something that turned his blood cold. A squadron of Japanese bombers was speeding their 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 he could do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

     Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dived 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, weaving in and out of the now broken formation, fired at as many planes as possible until finally all his ammunition was spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to at least clip off a wing or tail, in hopes of damaging as many enemy  planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. He was desperate to do anything he could to keep them from reaching the American ships.  Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off to 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 cameras mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had destroyed five enemy bombers. That was on February 20, 1942, and for that action he became the Navy’s first Ace of WWII and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

     A year later he was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of that heroic action die. And today O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to his courage of this great man.

     So the next time you are in O’Hare visit his memorial with his statue and Medal of Honor. It is located between Terminal 1 and Terminal  2.

You wondering what these two stories have to do with one another?

     Butch O’Hare was an American hero, and Easy Eddie’s son.