Letters From Grandpa #552

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 552

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will deal with two stories. The first is about a lawyer named “Easy Eddie.” He kept Scarface Al Capone out of prison for many years. Capone was a famous gangster who took over illegal breweries on the South Side of Chicago in 1925. Bugs Moran ran the crime family on the North Side of Chicago. Capone is believed to have been involved in the deaths of at least thirty-three men between 1923 and 1930. This included the seven victims of the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Wikipedia lists 13 films covering Capone’s career in crime. Rumor was that Capone beat someone to death with a baseball bat in front of many witnesses, but no one was willing to testify against him. One reason he stayed out of prison was the diabolical skill of his lawyer - “Easy Eddie”.

Easy Eddie was born Sept. 5, 1893. He passed the bar exam in 1923. When he went to work for Al Capone his financial worries were over. Capone provided him with plenty of money and also a fenced in mansion in Chicago that covered an entire city block. While Eddie was living the high life involved in crime and deceit, he was deeply disturbed about the future of his son. Eddie provided his beloved son with a military education and tried to teach him right from wrong. He desperately wanted his son to avoid the crime and sin that stained his life.

Finally, that is when Easy Eddie dared to do what was right. He went to the police and told the truth about Al Capone. It was his testimony that finally put Al Capone in prison. Predictably, not long afterward, Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely street in Chicago. In his pockets were a rosary, a cross, 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 so live and love and toil with will, And place no faith in tomorrow, for the clock may soon be still.”

• Story
• 2 is about Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific during W.W. 2. On Feb. 20, 1942 he took off from the carrier with a squadron of his compatriots. Some time later he looked at his fuel gage and realized that someone had failed to top off his tanks. The flight leader ordered him to return to the carrier.

On his return Butch saw a squadron of Japanese airplanes heading toward the American fleet. Forgetting his personal safety he took on the whole squadron by himself. He dived into the melee with 50 caliber guns blazing. He shot down several planes and when he was out of ammunition he attacked the enemy without guns using his own plane as a battering ram to shear off parts of the enemy’s planes. Finally, the exasperated Japanese took off in another direction and O’Hare limped back to the Lexington with what was left of his airplane.

Reviewing the film in his gun cameras O’Hare was credited with 5 victories making him the first Naval Ace in W.W. 2. He was also the first Navy pilot to receive the Medal of Honor. A year later the courageous Lt. Commander Butch O’Hare was killed in aerial combat. He was only 29 years old.

The citizens of Chicago did not want the memory of their hero to be forgotten and named the O’Hare airport in his honor! If you ever find yourself at O’Hare International Airport with time to spare, give some thought to visiting the Butch O’Hare memorial located between Terminals 1 and 2. There you will read of his amazing courage and see his statue and his Medal of Honor on display.

As the late Paul Harvey would say - “Now . . . the rest of the story”!

Butch O’Hare was Easy Eddie’s son!

The late A.B. McReynolds preached a famous sermon titled: “Something worse than dying and going to hell.” McReynolds explained that “Something worse than dying and going to hell, is dying and going to hell and then realizing that you brought your children with you!”

Noah built an ark to save his family (Heb. 11:7). What are you doing to save your family?

Easy Eddie gave up his own life in order to save his son! What will you give up to save yours?

As the famous martyr, Jim Elliot, said: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Jesus said it like this: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Since not man knows the day of his death, wise King Solomon wisely said: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce