These are re-cycles and very interesting. Thanks good friend and Mcconnell Avenue neighbor Mound Park Urchin kid, Ronnie!
*Two Stories......You decide or google it.
BOTH TRUE - and worth reading!!!!*
* 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 manoeuvring 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. So, 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 defenceless. 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 calibres’ 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.
(Pretty cool, huh?)
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