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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. He was
very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal manoeuvrings 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 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 atrocities that
went on around him.

Eddie
did have one soft spot - a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to
it that his young son had clothes, cars and a good education. 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 - a good name
and a good example.

One day,
Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. He 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 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 . In
his pockets were 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
away 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 dived into the
formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 calibers
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 dived at the planes, trying to clip a wing or
tail in the hope of damaging as many 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
related the events 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
destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became
the Navy's first Ace of WWII, and the first naval aviator to win the
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 hero to fade, and today O'Hare
Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to his
courage.

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
is 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.