Edward “Butch” O’Hare is flying in his F4F-3 Grumman Wildcat plane
on the mission to intercept Japanese planes
on their way to his aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington.
The carrier’s position has been discovered
and O’Hare is racing against the clock to save it.
The first wave of Japanese planes have been stopped
by anti-aircraft fire and Wildcat fighters,
but the second wave is about to arrive
and the situation is dire.
Butch and his wingman Marion “Duff" Dufilho
are the only American planes in position to take on the Japanese planes.
But Dufilho’s guns have jammed.
With three minutes left before the Japanese reach the USS Lexington
this brave pilot with an incredible background story
makes the decision to engage the enemy
alone.
Butch’s father, was Edward Joseph (EJ) O’Hare
also known as “Easy Eddie”.
The Family lived in St.Louis.
They were of humble beginnings
and lived in the apartment above Soulard grocery store,
which belonged to EJ’s father-in-law.
He taught his son how to shoot
and Edward became quite the marksman.
EJ “bought” the rights to the mechanical rabbit,
an asset which was used in a dog races to replace the real rabbit
and give the dogs a motivation to run.
EJ promoted the invention all over the Midwest.
When he came to Chicago,
one man in particular became very interested in the rabbit as a business proposal.
That man was none other than Al Capone.
This was the Prohibition Era
and Chicago was run by gangsters
and Capone was one the most notorious of them all.
Capone took a liking to EJ
and they developed several businesses together.
EJ took a deal with the devil
and became Capone’s personal lawyer.
EJ became known as Easy Eddie
and got Capone out of lot of difficult legal situations.
Eddie provided everything for his children.
Nothing was beyond his reach now he was working for the mob.
But he was worried that he was setting a bad example for his son.
So he sent “Butch” to the Western Military Academy in Illinois,
from where he graduated in 1932
and proceeded on to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
EJ was fascinated with flying
and he inspired Butch to become an aviator.
As time went by
EJ became disillusioned with his life working for the mob.
What would become of the name O’Hare?
Would it be tainted and overshadowed by the nickname Easy Eddie?
What kind of man was he inspiring his son to become?
The final straw was Valentine’s Day of 1929,
when Capone’s thugs brutally took out several rival gang members.
Although it was unproven,
everyone knew that Capone was guilty.
EJ realised that he was possibly the only one who could stop Capone.
Wrestling with his conscience,
he decided to testify against his boss,
knowing that this action would come at great cost.
But he felt he had to do the right thing
and set an example for his son to be a better man than he was.
With agent Frank Wilson and his group of “Untouchables”
and the records that Edward provided,
Al Capone was on track to be convicted of a crime of a tax evasion.
And much to his surprise, Al Capone was found guilty.
The film “The Untouchables” was loosely based on these events.
The character of EJ was called Walter Payne.
Eddy had done the right thing
and had finally given an example of bravery and morality to his son.
Happy in that knowledge,
he expected some form of retribution from Capone’s gang
and was prepared to take the consequences.
In 1939 while driving home in his car
the mob finally caught up with Easy Eddie
and he paid the ultimate price for his actions against Capone.
At that same time Butch O’Hare was flying
in what was described as brilliant azure with little clouds.
He landed at sunset
and was told of his father’s death.
He took emergency leave to attend EJ’s funeral
and then immediately went back into service.
In 1941 Butch married Rita Wooster,
just six weeks after meeting her.
Initially he was stationed on the USS Saratoga
but after the events of Pearl Harbor
he was transferred to the USS Lexington.
After the Japanese attacked Rabaul,
Vice Adm. Wilson Brown gave the order to cross the South Pacific
and take the attack to the enemy.
Shortly after setting sail,
they got the message from a US submarine
that they had been discovered by a Japanese Snooper,
and the enemy planes were on their way to sink the Lexington.
The Japanese were flying Mitsubishi Hamaki or “Cigar” Bombers.
These were twin-engine land based bombers that had excellent performance,
due to the aircraft’s lightness.
The flip side was that they offered almost no protection for the crew.
The Americans nicknamed them “Betty Bombers.”
They attacked in two waves of 9 and 8 planes.
The first wave was taken out by fire from the carrier.
Butch and his wingman Marion “Duff” Dufilho
launched from the carrier just as the second wave approached.
It became clear that only the two of them were in a position to stop the attack,
no other plane was close enough.
They fired test rounds and came to the dreadful realization
that Duff’s machine guns were jammed!
That left Butch on his own.
As the only fighter who could stop the Japanese from destroying the USS Lexington.
He had enough ammunition for just 34 seconds of fire.
Butch didn’t hesitate
and started the defense of his ship.
The “Bettys” were flying in V formation, very close to each other.
They outnumbered Butch by eight to one.
Butch started the attack
and two Japanese planes were immediately incapacitated.
Butch knew what he was doing.
He was an exceptional marksman and carefully conserved his ammunition.
Two planes were down but there were six more to go.
The USS carrier was still in danger.
Alone in the sky and facing insurmountable odds
Butch showed true grit
and turned his plane once more to face the 6 enemy planes.
His strategy was to go for accurate shots to the engines and fuel tanks.
He took aim and pressed fire.
The third plane was damaged and then the fourth plane was shot down.
In the sixth Betty was Lieutenant Commander Takuzo Ito.
He came close to bombing the carrier,
but Butch was relentless.
He concentrated all his fire on Ito’s Betty.
The explosion was so powerful
that Ito’s engine nacelle burst out of the plane
and it fell into the water.
But the fight wasn’t over.
The first plane, although heavily damaged by Butch,
managed to regain power and caught up with him.
Butch started shooting but ran out of ammunition.
Frustrated, he pulled away,
hoping that the anti-aircraft guns would shoot the four remaining bombers.
The remaining Bettys dropped their ordnance.
With the Japanese airmen rattled by Butch’s defense,
every single one missed their target,
and their bombs fell harmlessly into the ocean.
Just two of the Betties escaped,
three were shot down and the other two were lost.
With his home-carrier saved
Butch returned to the Lexington shortly after 5.45 p.m.
For his actions on that day
President Roosevelt promoted Butch to Lieutenant Commander
and awarded him the Medal of Honor.
His wife Rita hung the medal around his neck.
The news of O’Hare’s heroic action had far reaching effects.
Up to that point much of the news from the front was not good.
The country needed a hero
and Butch’s actions became national news.
He set an example and an inspiration to all the US forces.
In 1943 on a mission to intercept 20 enemy planes,
Butch never returned.
If the name O’Hare sounds familiar,
in 1949 Orchard Depot Airport in Chicago
was renamed the O’Hare International Airport, in his honor.
It it is now the second largest airport in the US.
A replica of the plane he flew is still on display in Terminal 2.
The name O’Hare is forever linked with heroism.