Behind the name of Chicago O'Hare International Airport

"Not even $5 million? How dare these crazy people in the federal courts to refuse to take my money!" The corrupt government of Chicago was willing to take the money and give Capone a chance to regain his freedom.

But America's seemingly loose "democratic separation of powers" got tough on him when it counted! The federal judge's refusal to settle the fine seems to be a determination to send him to prison.

Sitting in the courtroom, Al Capone's face was filled with disdain for the law enforcement officers. He was contemptuous of these poor people and thought to himself, "I've been through more than you've seen in the past few years," and with Capone's power and wealth today, he had nothing to worry about. But now he is not confused, at this moment, the power of money seems to have begun to weaken.

Around 1925, at the age of 25, Al Capone was already the veritable king of Chicago, and his gang had killed many people in the past few years to monopolize the bootlegging business. Although arrogance is his usual attitude, but each time is assigned to trustworthy men in the work and did not leave any direct link to their hammer, to give the police the opportunity to testify in court.

This time, faced with the court pointing to their tax evasion books and other physical evidence, Capone has some weakness, because he knows very well, these transactions in the books are facts, once someone testifies, their king-like happy days will come to an end.

When Capone was thinking about who among his loyal men would be willing to set him up, the federal judge who rejected the $5 million tax penalty deal, James Wilkerson, lifted his face from the file, held his glasses with one hand, and said, "Will the witness please come to court"...

Capone looked around the courtroom, and then expressionlessly looked at the wooden door where the witness came in, "G... Creak... Bam," the wooden door slowly opened and closed, a long time by Capone familiar through, but at the moment he felt strange man into the courtroom, he did not turn his head to look at Capone, as if the noise of leather shoes squeezing the wooden floor will be too large alarmed who, light on his feet, he quickly crossed the center of the courtroom, sat on the witness stand.

The man who intended to correct Capone, nicknamed "Easy Eddie" in the gang, was Capone's lawyer for many years and helped Capone with the dog and horse racing business. At this point, Capone's mind seems to be clear on how the books got into the hands of the IRS.

However, Capone was not going to ask him why he had betrayed himself, because his men had already visited the 12 jurors present with machine guns and sacks of cash, because the jury would eventually recommend his acquittal after paying back taxes and fines... He had plenty of money.

Capone looked up at Easy Eddie with cold eyes, as if he were looking at a sick fowl that he was about to slaughter and bury...

However, Capone was overconfident this time, and Judge Wilkerson didn't give him a chance. The judge switched the jury in from another courtroom before the trial, which was held on October 24, 1931. Capone was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison for concealing his income, and after bouncing around in between, he was imprisoned in the famous Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco.

Eight years later, in November 1939, Capone was released from prison after suffering from incurable syphilis, and on Wednesday, November 8, Easy Eddy was shot and killed by two shotgun-wielding assassins as he drove his Lincoln-Sheffield Coupe to the intersection of Ogden and Rockwell after work in the afternoon, at the age of 46.

Off-topic: In the decades before and after World War II in the last century, the American Mafia was very influential and it is said that Marilyn Monroe spent her last night with the Mafia boss before she died.

Yet why did Easy Eddie risk his life to offend Capone?

Easy Eddie was born in St. Louis on September 5, 1893, to a father from Ireland and a mother of German descent. in 1923, Eddie passed the Missouri bar exam and subsequently joined a law firm and became a professional lawyer. around 1925, Eddie went to Chicago for career advancement and to earn more money. due to the breakup of his relationship caused by the two places, Eddie met his first wife, Selina, In 1927, Eddie divorced his first wife, Thelma, and moved to Chicago for good, where she gave birth to two daughters and a son.

Soon after, fortune came to him, and he was recognized by the King of Chicago, Al Capone, who had risen to prominence during Prohibition.

While helping Capone with his dog racing and horse racing business, Eddie made a lot of money with Capone, who treated him well. But after years in the mob, he has seen the evil, violence, and murders in the system, and now he feels lost after making a lot of money.

Easy Eddie for the sake of spiritual salvation, more children's life is not black, give them a bright future, can become decent people. Eddie agreed to become an undercover agent for the IRS, secretly helping to collect evidence of Capone's tax evasion, and finally went to federal court to testify against Capone as a witness, sending him to prison. He is familiar with Capone's character, and at the moment he decided to testify publicly, he may have been ready to die...

Easy Eddie's good wishes for his children, did they come true?

"Easy Eddie" was the lawyer's nickname in Capone's mob, but his full name was Edward Joseph O'Hare, and the son he had with his first wife, Selma Anna, was Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare.

On February 20, 1942, the Japanese were cruising in their Type 97s. They soon spotted the American aircraft carrier preparing to sneak into the Japanese base at Rabaul, and immediately the Japanese brought in a group of twin-engine Type I land attack planes that they owned, ready to sink the carrier with the wildest firepower...

The carrier was the USS Lexington, and "Butch" O'Hare, son of "Easy Eddie", was on board, flying as a U.S. Navy pilot in a mission to sneak up on the Japanese base.

The carrier Lexington was about to cross Japanese waters north of New Zealand, 450 miles from the port of Rabaul, when at 10:15, the Lexington picked up a group of unknown aircraft signals on radar at a distance of 35 miles ...... A big battle is about to start!

Lieutenant Commander Sachs, commander of the 3rd Fighter Squadron of the Lexington carrier, led 12 F4F fighters up to intercept the Japanese Type I land attack aircraft, and after a fierce air firefight, successfully intercepted nine Japanese fighters, at which point the frantic Japanese approached nine more fighters, and there were only two F4Fs on the Lexington carrier that could execute the takeoff, Captain O'Hare and DiFiyo were in danger, with O'Hare At this point, only the F4Fs piloted by O'Hare and nine Japanese Type I land attack planes remained over the Lexington, and the Japanese, who were 9 to 1, were cautiously using a V formation to protect each other!

This made O'Hare feel desperate, adrenaline surge, he glanced at the sea after the beautiful Lexington, and forced himself to calm down, his heart silently calculating their firepower "F4F has four 50 caliber guns, each gun 450 rounds, has enough ammunition, firing time of about 34 seconds ..." Suddenly! O'Hare's F4F made a sharp turn and accelerated around to the back of the Japanese formation, before the Japanese could recover, his F4F was already fast approaching those Type I attack planes, just 60 meters from the Japanese fighters, O'Hare started firing at full power, he hit the two Japanese Type I land attackers to disintegrate in the air ..... The other fighters in the Japanese formation just reacted, in preparation to turn around to return fire, O'Hare's F4F pulled up sharply, and quickly turned to the other end of the Japanese formation to attack ...... originally he thought this was the last few minutes of his life, but did not expect to become the opponent's darkest moment, O'Hare spent about five minutes, taking out took out 7 Japanese fighters, and the last 2 Type I land attackers were forced to land in the Pacific by him ......

When he returned safely to Lexington, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted from Captain to Major.

In the fall of 1943, O'Hare flew with the USS Enterprise on an offensive mission in the Central Pacific War, and that night they were to attempt their first night combat from an aircraft carrier, the first time the U.S. Navy had ever conducted air combat at night.

O'Hare, serving as the 6th Fighter Squadron Leader, shot down a Japanese Type 97 naval attack fighter shortly after a successful takeoff. Unfortunately, however, the F6F he was piloting was shot down during a subsequent air encounter with a group of Japanese torpedo bombers, and he was lost forever in the Pacific Ocean, on November 26, 1943. Naval pilot Major O'Hare's war record stopped at 12 kills.

Major Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare lived up to the expectations of his father, "Easy Eddie", and became an American hero.

In 1945, the destroyer USS O'Hare (DD-889) was named in his honor.

A few years later, Colonel Robert McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, suggested changing the name of Chicago's Orchard Depot Airport to honor Major "Butch" O'Hare, and on September 19, 1949, the Chicago, Illinois airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport in honor of Major O'Hare's bravery, and the airport It also became the largest airport in Chicago and the only dual hub airport in the world (United Airlines and American Airlines, both of which have their hubs here).

In 2001, the Aviation Classics Museum reassembled the aircraft with a replica of the F4F-3 Wildcat that O'Hare flew in the Medal of Honor. The restored Wildcat is on display at the west end of Terminal 2 behind the security checkpoint, in honor of American hero O'Hare.