Honor and courage – 3

Let’s continue with the story of Eddie, the lawyer of Al Capone and the discussion on honor and courage.

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 and thus his fuel was spilling out. 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 gone 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 the enemy squadron from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove 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 Japanese formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent. 

Undaunted, he continued the assault.  He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes 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 reported in and related the event 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, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942 and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of World War II 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 WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. If you find yourself at O'Hare International give some thought to visit Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor.  It's 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, the “lazy” boy he sent to the Naval Academy.

Here is real courage, of the father, Eddie who went wrong but instead of committing suicide for the crimes to which he kept a blind eye and even profited from, had remorse of conscience, took the difficult decision to redeem himself and help the government to get rid of one of America’s most notorious criminal. In the end, he lost his life but not by his own hands. His redemption was complete and he left a legacy that his son, Butch emulated with true courage – risking his life for the greater good.

We have plenty of stories of redemption. We hear the parable of the Prodigal Son who instead of committing suicide for what he admitted was a sin against God and against man, humbly returned to his father. There was nothing for him to restitute but the joy of the father in seeing a “dead” son coming to life again. The PMA would have been prouder if Reyes immolated his pride by revealing the truth.

St. Augustine overcame his debauched younger days and became one of greatest thinkers of modern civilization. What if, in desperation he also committed suicide? Our world as we know today would be poorer indeed. And so were the lives of St. Benedict and St. Ignatius who found redemption in the works they did.

I do not intend to disparage Angelo Reyes but to point out that what he did must not be an example of contrition and atonement, rather of rising from the mistakes and doing better by helping rid the very structure or circumstance that led to his fall.  Heroes don’t commit suicide; they transcend.*

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