How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific
JGerstenbl
How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific (with a little tongue in
cheek).
In 1931 the FBI was investigating Edward O Hare Sr., president of
Sportsman Park in Chicago, and a henchman of Al Capone. To avoid
prosecution O Hare made a deal with the government that he would give them
sufficient information to convict Capone. In return O Hare Sr. would not
be prosecuted and his son Ed Butch O Hare Jr. would be given an
appointment to the US Naval Academy.
That year Al Capone was sent to federal prison for income tax evasion and
eventually released in 1939, and then retired to Miami where he died in
1947. A month prior to Capone s release from prison in 1939, Capone s
buddies murdered O Hare Sr. as a gift to their former boss.
Ed Butch O Hare Jr. entered Annapolis in 1933 and graduated in 1937,
entered the naval aviator program and became a fighter pilot.
Two months after Pearl Harbor in February 1942, a carrier task force
centered around the carrier Lexington approached the island of New Britain
with the purpose of bombing the Japanese air base at Rabaul. However
Japanese reconnaissance planes spotted the Lexington and was shortly after
attacked by Japanese Kate navy torpedo bombers.
Navy Avenger fighter planes from the Lexington under the command of Lt.
Commander Thace intercepted them, shot most of them down and turned the
others around. During the air battle the Lexington was attacked from a
second direction by another nine Kate bombers. Two Avengers had been kept
in reserve by Thace, one of which was Butch O Hare s plane. (O Hare Jr.
was not held in high regard by his fellow pilots and commander as they had
learned of how he had won his appointment to Annapolis; that opinion was
to shortly change.) O Hare Jr. and the second plane went out to intercept
the nine planes approaching in three groups of three. The second pilot s
guns jammed so that pilot broke off his attack, which left O Hare Jr. to
single handily attack the nine bombers.
Butch O Hare proceeded to shoot down 5 of the bombers, one of which in its
terminal dive attempted to crash into the Lexington, but missed. Meanwhile
the officers and sailors aboard the Lexington observing O Hare attacking
the Japanese bombers are wildly cheering on O Hare. Vice Admiral Brown,
the task force commander, admonishes his men on the bridge to Stop
whooping it up, this isn t a football game you re watching. In his attack
on a sixth bomber O Hare runs out of ammunition but just then other US
fighters from the first air defense reach the air battle knocking down an
additional Japanese bomber and forcing the other three to break off their
attack and return to base.
Because of O Hare s heroic action he receives the Congressional Medal of
Honor, and is credited by many historians for saving the carrier Lexington
during the battle.
Three months later the Lexington is sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
However its planes along with the Yorktown planes sink the light carrier
Shoho, severely damage the carrier Shokaku and destroy most of the carrier
Zuikuku s planes. The Yorktown itself is damaged, but is repaired
sufficiently to participate in the Battle of Midway and play a major role
in the sinking of four Japanese carriers and the victory. The Japanese
carriers Shoho and Zuikuko because of the damage received at the Battle of
the Coral Sea do not participate in the Battle of Midway. These extra two
carriers would have undoubtedly tipped the balance in the Japanese favor
at Midway, also the Yorktown most likely would have been lost at the
Battle of the Coral Sea had the Lexington not been at the that battle.
Had Al Capone been an ordinary citizen, Butch O Hare would not have
attended the Naval Academy and become a naval aviator, and would not had
saved the Lexington off New Britain in February 1942. Without the
Lexington, the Battle of the Coral Sea most likely would have been lost by
the US, with the Yorktown sunk. A defeat at the Battle of the Coral Sea
would have meant a defeat at the Battle of Midway (6 Japanese carriers to
2 US carriers, rather than the actual 4 to 3 ratio.)
So you see how Al Capone was the reason we won World War II in the
Pacific.
Oh yes, O Hare International Airport in Chicago is named in honor of
Edward Butch O Hare Jr.
Chet Gerstenbluth
Chet G.
C. L. Waltemath
In article <4u0r0k$b...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, jgers...@aol.com
(JGerstenbl) wrote:
>
> Had Al Capone been an ordinary citizen, Butch O Hare would not have
> attended the Naval Academy and become a naval aviator, and would not had
> saved the Lexington off New Britain in February 1942. Without the
> Lexington, the Battle of the Coral Sea most likely would have been lost by
> the US, with the Yorktown sunk. A defeat at the Battle of the Coral Sea
> would have meant a defeat at the Battle of Midway (6 Japanese carriers to
> 2 US carriers, rather than the actual 4 to 3 ratio.)
>
> So you see how Al Capone was the reason we won World War II in the
> Pacific.
I enjoyed your "History" lesson, but your conclusion that Capone was
instrumental in winning the Pacific War is interesting but perhaps
overstated speculation.
There is no doubt that O'Hare was an heroic figure as a naval avaitor,
but he was only one of hundreds. There is no reason to think that someone
else would not have been in trhe same position at the same time with just
as much nerve, moxie and guts and would have accomplished the same thing.
If Wade McClusky had not led the attack on Kaga, Gallaher on Akagi or Max
Leslie on Soryu, someone else would have and would have been just as
effective and we would still win at Midway.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
C. L. Waltemath <o> It doesn't take all kinds, there simply are
Portland, Oregon <o> all kinds. (Churchill)
James A. Wolf
jgers...@aol.com (JGerstenbl) wrote:
>How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific (with a little tongue in
>cheek).
<amusing post snipped>
Bona fide racketeers did fight in the war. Meyer Lansky volunteered,
but as rejected because of his age (about 40). Lansky asociate 'Doc'
Stacher signed up too. Cleveland crimelord Moe Dalitz rose from
private to captain. Dave Berman (Minneapolis) and Charles Barron went
to Canada to enlist after rejections from thier local draft boards.
(BTW my source is _Little Man_ by Robert Lacey, and I highly reccomend
it.)
Gangsters also helped to pevent espionage and sabotage on the
waterfront. Naval inteligence recruited Salvatore Luciano- better
known as Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano, then serving time for vice
convictions. Additionally, underworld figures provided pertinent data
for the Sicilian landings to Allied planners.
All serious readers may feel free to depart. Here I'm just being
silly.
Unfortunately, gangsters were a woefully underutilized resource by the
Allies. How could they used the gunsels correctly, you wonder. Here
are a couple of possibilities.
Hitler is in bed, sleeping fitfully. He wakes up, as from a troubling
dream, and notices something wrong on his sheets. There is something
ozzing on them, something red and sticky... He pulls the blankets
back as we see his bedclothes stianed crimson, as well as the sheets.
He pulls the blankets further, and starts to scream with horror when
he sees the severed head of Herman Goering.
Hitler, in retribution sends his most dangerous soldier to infiltrate
the Allies and possibly kill Churchill. He is holding a meeting with
his top commanders and other Axis leaders in the Chancellory, when a
package arrives through the Swiss embassy. It is an SS officer's coat
wrapped around a large mackerel. Mussolini explains,"It's an old
Sicilian message... Otto Skorzeny sleeps with the fishes."
Now if we can just get Michael to have that sit-down wqith Tojo...
James A. Wolf - jw...@cybercom.net
"The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in
Samson's time.--"Richard Nixon
<*>***************************************************************
"For in he background figures vague and vast
Of patriarchs and prophets rose sublime,
And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time."
Longfellow
Jim Garner
JGerstenbl (jgers...@aol.com) writes:
> How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific (with a little tongue in
> cheek).
(lots of good stuff snipped here)
>
> Because of O Hare s heroic action he receives the Congressional Medal of
> Honor, and is credited by many historians for saving the carrier Lexington
> during the battle.
>
> So you see how Al Capone was the reason we won World War II in the
> Pacific.
>
> Oh yes, O Hare International Airport in Chicago is named in honor of
> Edward Butch O Hare Jr.
It's a good story. Have to admit though that I always thought WWII was
won by an Australian. Chap name of Errol Flynn.
--
Jim Garner, Freelance editor, writer and dogsbody
an...@freenet.carleton.ca http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~an410
(613) 526-4786; 759B Springland, Ottawa, ON K1V 6L9
"BUMBLEBEES CAN'T FLY"
Colin M. Alberts
James A. Wolf wrote:
>
> Gangsters also helped to pevent espionage and sabotage on the
> waterfront. Naval inteligence recruited Salvatore Luciano- better
> known as Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano, then serving time for vice
> convictions. Additionally, underworld figures provided pertinent data
> for the Sicilian landings to Allied planners.
How accurate is the story that many years later it was revealed that
Luciano actually ordered (from) the burning of the French liner
_Normandie_ (then being converted to a troopship) in NYC harbor, as a
Machiavellian plot to get the Navy to get his sentence commuted if he
agreed to help stymie "Axis sabotage" (blamed at the time for the fire)
on the docks? Sounds like Lucky figured out how to pull of the biggest
protection racket of all time, if it is true.
------------------------------------------------------------
Colin Alberts
Arlington, Virginia
e-mail: alb...@access.digex.net
Colin M. Alberts
Keith
Well put, but I don't think you go back far enough. The real credit
goes to all those little old ladies in the Temperance Societies.
Without them there would not have been a 19th admendment or Al Capone.
But the real heroes of WWII are the vetrans of WWI who came back and got
stinking drunk to start the whole process.
As I'm sure you already know, O'Hare flew a F4F Wildcat, not a TBF
Advenger torpedo plane.
Keith
Ben Schapiro
This is about the dumbest thing I've seen on this group in a long time.
Ignoring the the tongue in cheek part about how history revolves an
individual with very indirect influence we're left with a post that:
a) indicates the writer knows next to nothing about the position and
influence of the O'Hare family independent of the Chicago mob. O'Hare Sr.
knew several US Senators and Representative in his own right by virtue of
his position in Chicago society. No need for a deal.
b) has the writer stating the US Naval Academy would be willing to accept a
plebe solely on the supposed request of the FBI and/or the Justice Department.
c) the case against Capone was so weak that such an outlandish deal would
seem like a good idea to the Justice Department.
d) changes Lt. Cmdr. Thach's name to Thace twice
e) has Thach and O'Hare flying Avengers as VF months before the type reached
torpedo squadrons were it usually went. They flew F4F-3 Wildcats, same
manufacturer.
f) has Butch O'Hare held in low repute by his fellows prior to the action
off Rabaul. When O'Hare was generally considered the best pilot in VF 3.
g) has the 4th Air Group in Kates when they flew G4M1 "Betty" land attack
planes in translitterated Japanese rikujo kogekiki or rikko not Kate torpedo
planes which would not have had the range to reach TF 11.
From some of the details you give below I suspect you've read John
Lundstrom's first "First Team..." book. You need to read it again. I also
strongly suggest you read John's biography, co-authored with Dr. Steve Ewing
(author of several works on the Enterprise), on Butch O'Hare due out from
the Naval Inst. Press in Feburary. Then let's discuss the Chicago mob's
role in O'Hare's career. History is full of enough wierdness.
In Article <4u0r0k$b...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, jgers...@aol.com (JGerstenbl)
wrote:
>How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific (with a little tongue in
>cheek).
>In 1931 the FBI was investigating Edward O Hare Sr., president of
>Sportsman Park in Chicago, and a henchman of Al Capone. To avoid
>prosecution O Hare made a deal with the government that he would give them
>sufficient information to convict Capone. In return O Hare Sr. would not
>be prosecuted and his son Ed Butch O Hare Jr. would be given an
>appointment to the US Naval Academy.
>That year Al Capone was sent to federal prison for income tax evasion and
>eventually released in 1939, and then retired to Miami where he died in
>1947. A month prior to Capone s release from prison in 1939, Capone s
>buddies murdered O Hare Sr. as a gift to their former boss.
>Ed Butch O Hare Jr. entered Annapolis in 1933 and graduated in 1937,
>entered the naval aviator program and became a fighter pilot.
Snipped
>Navy Avenger fighter planes from the Lexington under the command of Lt.
>Commander Thace intercepted them, shot most of them down and turned the
>others around. During the air battle the Lexington was attacked from a
>second direction by another nine Kate bombers. Two Avengers had been kept
>in reserve by Thace, one of which was Butch O Hare s plane. (O Hare Jr.
>was not held in high regard by his fellow pilots and commander as they had
>learned of how he had won his appointment to Annapolis; that opinion was
>to shortly change.) O Hare Jr. and the second plane went out to intercept
>the nine planes approaching in three groups of three. The second pilot s
>guns jammed so that pilot broke off his attack, which left O Hare Jr. to
>single handily attack the nine bombers.
more Stuff deleted to make the moderator happy
> Chet Gerstenbluth
Ben Schapiro
********************************************************************************
Ben Schapiro Business be...@wpmail.als.ameritech.com
Customer Support Personal scha...@notis.com
URL http://www.als.ameritech.com:80/isc94.htm
Those who fail to study history are doomed to never get the joke.
I am NOT speaking for Ameritech.
John Lundstrom
JGerstenbl (jgers...@aol.com) wrote:
: How Al Capone Won World War II in the Pacific (with a little tongue in
: cheek).
: In 1931 the FBI was investigating Edward O Hare Sr., president of
: Sportsman Park in Chicago, and a henchman of Al Capone. To avoid
: prosecution O Hare made a deal with the government that he would give them
: sufficient information to convict Capone. In return O Hare Sr. would not
: be prosecuted and his son Ed Butch O Hare Jr. would be given an
: appointment to the US Naval Academy.
: in reserve by Thace, one of which was Butch O Hare s plane. (O Hare Jr.
: was not held in high regard by his fellow pilots and commander as they had
: learned of how he had won his appointment to Annapolis; that opinion was
: to shortly change.)
Butch was well-liked and respected by all in VF-3 long before his Medal of
Honor flight! He was considered by Lt.Cdr. John S. ("Jimmy" THACH as one
of his best pilots. They never knew about Butch's father's role in
convicting Capone because that wasn't revealed to the public until 1947.
: Because of O Hare s heroic action he receives the Congressional Medal of
: Honor, and is credited by many historians for saving the carrier Lexington
: during the battle.
: Had Al Capone been an ordinary citizen, Butch O Hare would not have
: attended the Naval Academy and become a naval aviator, and would not had
: saved the Lexington off New Britain in February 1942.
I don't have the time to correct all of the errors in this, but I can
categorically state (as co-author of a biography of Butch O'Hare to
be published by the Naval Institute Press next February) that there
was NO DEAL by EJ O'Hare (Butch's father's name was EDGAR not Edward)
with the government to get Butch in the Academy. The book goes into
detail on EJ's dealings with Capone. Suffice it to say that EJ already
had several Congressmen lined up to offer an appointment to Butch
to Annapolis and didn't need any "deal."
Oh, Butch was not lost as the result of friendly fire, but was shot
down by a BETTY, but that's another story.
John Lundstrom