Hero of the Skies In an amazing act of daring and bravery, Butch OʼHare earned his place in history as Americaʼs first naval Flying Ace of World War II BY GREG RIENZI On Feb. 20, 1942, Navy Lieutenant Edward took his crew on fishing and swimming trips, he “Butch” O’Hare hopped into his Wildcat fighter smoked Camel cigarettes and often flashed a plane aboard the USS Lexington aircraft carrier. Hollywood smile. This was no reconnaissance mission, flight drill O’Hare also possessed remarkable stick-and- or exercise. Duty, danger and fate beckoned. rudder and gunnery skills that made him a The Lexington sat some 450 nautical miles standout pilot and—on that fateful February from New Guinea and Japan’s Pacific naval afternoon in 1942—a nation’s knight in headquarters at Rabaul harbor. airplane armor. Earlier that afternoon, the Lexington had been discovered by a four-engine Kawanishi flying Edward O’Hare was born in St. Louis, Mo., boat. A U.S. fighter shot down the spotter plane, on March 13, 1914, to Edward Joseph O’Hare but not before it had radioed the carrier’s position. and Selma O’Hare. Young Butch, as he quickly A full squadron of Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” became known, had two sisters, Patricia bombers flew out of Rabaul to take out the and Marilyn. Lexington. To counter, the Lexington dispatched Butch’s father was a lawyer who early in his six Wildcat fighters, which took down most career met a St. Louis inventor, Oliver Smith, of the enemy planes. The ship’s anti-aircraft who developed a mechanical rabbit for use in guns finished off the rest before any damage dog racing, a new and popular pastime. Edward was done. O’Hare helped Smith take out a patent for the A second wave of bombers, however, was device, and the two later toured the country soon incoming. O’Hare and five other pilots introducing the rabbit (later popularized in a roared off the carrier’s deck to stop them. Bugs Bunny cartoon) at several racetracks. These were the times when heroes were made. When Smith died in 1927, the elder O’Hare Although just 27, O’Hare was already a sea- allegedly swindled Smith’s widow out of any soned and senior pilot who had established him- rights to the mechanical rabbit and took all the self as a favorite with crew members. The hand- earnings for himself. “Fast Eddie,” as he would some Irish-American was popular for his sense be known, was born. of humor and his modesty. A man’s man, who Butch’s parents divorced that same year, 16 BOSS ᔢ FALL / WINTER 2 0 1 2 Lt. Edward H. “Butch” O’Hare in his Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat giving a thumbs-up at Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, on April 10, 1942. Note the five Japanese flags representing the five enemy bombers he was credited with shooting down. Courtesy of The National Archives. WWW . DIXONVALVE . COM FALL / WINTER 2 0 1 2 ᔢ BOSS 17 when Butch was 12. His sisters stayed learned the basics on such naval aircraft On Feb. 20, the Lexington was deep with their mother in St. Louis, while as the Factory N3N-3, or Yellow Peril, in enemy waters in preparation for a Butch and his dad moved to Chicago. and the Stearman NS-1 biplane trainer. surprise air strike against the Japanese It was here that Fast Eddie met Al He trained in aerobatics on the Boeing ships in the harbor of Rabaul. With Capone, the American gangster whose F4B-4A, an agile pursuit aircraft, as well their position spotted, the mission had crime syndicate was at the height of its as in aerial gunnery. He also flew the to be aborted. Now it was just a matter powers. Capone brought on O’Hare SBU Corsair and the TBD Devastator. of self-preservation. The second wave to help run his horse and dog track During his training, O’Hare of enemy Japanese bombers took the operation in Chicago. The two struck received heartbreaking news from Lexington off-guard, and O’Hare and up both a partnership and friendship. home. On Nov. 8, 1939, his father was his squad had to scramble. Despite his father’s dealings with gunned down by some of Capone’s The launch from the carrier, how- such a notorious figure, Butch had a men, just weeks before the famous ever, was far from ideal; four of the fairly normal childhood, with summer mobster was released from Alcatraz Wildcats quickly found themselves too vacations to river camps, where Butch prison. Fast Eddie was killed instantly. learned to sail and fish. His father also He was 46. bought him a .22-caliber rifle that he Butch O’Hare finished his naval used to shoot tin cans and other targets. aviation training in May of 1940 and By all accounts, the elder Eddie was assigned to the USS Saratoga’s doted on his son and praised him at fighter squadron, then transferred to every turn. But perhaps knowing the the carrier USS Enterprise. O’Hare extent of Capone’s villainy, he worried speedily mastered the fine art of carrier for the boy’s future. At age 13, O’Hare landings, a pulse-raising maneuver he was sent to Western Military Academy, could not get enough of, impressing O’Hare speedily mastered the fine art of carrier landings, a pulse-raising maneuver he could not get enough of, impressing even more experienced pilots. a private military preparatory school even more experienced pilots. located in Alton, Ill.—an academy that During the summer of 1941, in addition to O’Hare turned out several O’Hare returned to St. Louis. During war heroes, including Paul Tibbits, who a hospital visit to a friend, he met a would go on to pilot the Enola Gay nurse named Rita Wooster and fell over Hiroshima. head over heels in love. He proposed O’Hare graduated from the on the spot. She said yes, but with a Western Military Academy in 1932, catch. O’Hare had to convert to Roman and the following year enrolled at the Catholicism so that they could marry A recruiting poster, ca. 1942, appeals to the United States Naval Academy in in a Catholic Church. Butch agreed patriotic fervor of the day. Butch O’Hare’s Annapolis, Md. Around this time, and the two married on Sept. 6, 1941. heroism undoubtedly inspired many young Fast Eddie provided incriminating The couple honeymooned in men to join the ranks of U.S. naval aviators. evidence during Capone’s infamous Hawaii, and then moved to Coronado, tax evasion trial, which helped finally Calif. where Butch was reassigned until far from the Japanese planes to reach to put the gangster behind bars. he was called to duty the day after the them before they released their bombs. In 1937, O’Hare graduated from the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Only O’Hare and his wingman were Naval Academy and was appointed an Dec. 7, 1941. within intercept distance, but the ensign. Though he longed for naval In January 1942, after the USS wingman’s guns jammed. aviation, like all new officers of the time Saratoga was struck by a Japanese O’Hare and his plane were all that he had to spend two years on surface torpedo off Hawaii, O’Hare’s squadron stood between the eight enemy bombers, warships before he could specialize. relocated to the USS Lexington, and roughly 12 miles away from the carrier, He served two years aboard the O’Hare was temporarily promoted to and the Lexington’s 2,000-man crew. battleship USS New Mexico, and quickly lieutenant. One month later, O’Hare As if these odds weren’t long enough, moved on to flight training at Naval Air would cement his legend in military O’Hare had only enough ammunition Station Pensacola in Florida. There he aviation history. for 34 seconds of firing. He had to 18 BOSS ᔢ FALL / WINTER 2 0 1 2 make each round count. commander and awarded him the cigarettes. The Camel smoker accepted Squinting into the sun, he quickly Medal of Honor. With the president the gift and wrote a letter of thanks to spotted the V-shaped bomber formation looking on, Rita placed the medal the Grumman employees: “You build and took the enemy by surprise. On his around her husband’s neck. The citation them, we’ll fly them and between us, first pass, O’Hare dived full throttle laid out his daring in dramatic detail. we can’t be beaten.” directly at the formation and took “Without hesitation, alone and O’Hare would later embark on out two bombers in mere seconds. A unaided, he repeatedly attacked this several war bond tours and other public burst from his plane’s Browning M2 enemy formation, at close range in the relations duties throughout the country. .50-caliber guns made a direct hit on a face of intense combined machine-gun In June 1942 he was relocated to Maui, bomber’s wing, and the engine ripped and cannon fire. Despite this concen- Hawaii, to instruct other pilots in right out of its mountings. trated opposition, Lieutenant O’Hare, combat tactics. His daughter, Kathleen, O’Hare came around for another by his gallant and courageous action, was born in February 1943, but he pass and took out another crop of his extremely skillful marksmanship in didn’t get to meet his firstborn until a bombers, which were now in complete making the most of every shot of his month later.