| Edward O'hare |
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EARLY LIFE Edward Henry Butch O'Hare was born in St. Louis, Missouri . He had two sisters, Patricia and Marilyn. When their parents divorced in 1927, O'Hare and his sisters moved to Chicago with their father, Edward J. O'Hare . His father had been a lawyer who had been working closely with Al Capone before turning against him and helping convict Al Capone for Tax Evasion . Butch O'Hare graduated from the Western Military Academy (WMA) in , before reporting for flight training. In 1939 he started flight training at NAS Pensacola in Florida , learning the basics on Naval Aircraft Factory N3N -1 "Yellow Peril" and Stearman NS-1 biplane trainers. He also flew the SBU Corsair , the advanced trainer SNJ , the TBD Devastator and later trained aerobatics as well as dive-bombing and aerial gunnery on the Boeing F4B-4A biplane. In November 1939, his father was gunned down by Al Capone's gunmen. During Capone's tax evasion trial in 1931 and 1932, O'Hare's father provided incriminating evidence which helped finally put Capone away. There is Speculation that this was done to ensure that Butch got into Annapolis , or to set a good example. Whatever the motivation, the elder O'Hare was shot down in his car, a week before Capone was released from Alcatraz. When Butch finished his Naval Aviation training on May 2, 1940 he was assigned to VF-3, USS ''Saratoga'''s fighter squadron. Lt. John Thach , then Executive Officer of VF-3, discovered O'Hare's exceptional abilities as a fighter pilot and took him as his wingman. Thach, who later developed the Thach Weave aerial combat tactic, emphasized gunnery in his training. O'Hare was a standout, at the Navy fleet gunnery competition at the end of 1940, 8 of 16 VF-3 pilots qualified for the gunnery "E" award ("excellence") and O'Hare won the fleet trophy for best gunnery. In early 1941, VF-3 (Fighting Three) squadron transferred to the aircraft carrier USS ''Enterprise'' (CV-6) , while carrier USS ''Saratoga'' (CV-3) underwent maintenance and overhaul work at Bremerton Navy Yard . July 1941 was an important time for Butch O'Hare. He met his future wife, Rita Wooster (proposing to her the first time he met her) and also made his first flight in a Grumman F4F Wildcat . He and Rita married on Saturday, 6 September 1941. For a honeymoon, they sailed to Hawaii on separate ships, Butch on ''Saratoga'', which had completed her modifications at Bremerton, and Rita on the Matson liner ''Lurline''. Shortly thereafter Butch was called to duty - the day after the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor . On Sunday evening, 11 January 1942, ''Saratoga'' was damaged by a Japanese torpedo hit, so VF-3 squadron had to transfer to the USS ''Lexington'' (CV-2) , nicknamed the "Lady Lex". WORLD WAR II SERVICE The Medal of Honor winning flight O'Hare's most famous flight occurred during the Pacific War on February 20 , 1942 . Lt. O'Hare was the only US Navy fighter pilot available in the air when Japanese bombers were attacking his aircraft carrier ''Lexington''. Butch O'Hare was on board the Aircraft Carrier ''Lexington'' , which had been assigned the task of penetrating enemy-held waters north of New Ireland . While still 450 miles from the harbor at Rabaul , at 1015, the ''Lexington'' picked up on its CXAM Radar an unknown aircraft 35 miles from the ship on bearing 180° true. A six-plane combat patrol was launched, two fighters being directed to investigate the contact. These two planes, under command of LCMDR. John S. Thach located a four-engined Kawanishi H6K4 Type 97 ''Mavis'' flying boat about 43 miles out and shot it down at 1112. Later another radar contact 35 miles ahead was made and two other planes of the combat patrol were sent to the contact point. They discovered a second ''Mavis'' flying boat and shot it down at 1202. A third contact was made 80 miles ahead, but the ''bogey'' soon reversed course and disappeared. At 1542 a jagged vee on the CXAM's A-scope drew the attention of the ''Lex's'' radar operator. The contact then was lost, but reappeared at 1625 only forty-seven miles west and closing fast. Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters were scrambled to confront the ''bogeys''. The bullhorn announced, ''"Pilots, man your planes."'' Butch O'Hare lost no time clambering into his F4F Wildcat, BuNo 4031 "white F-15", adjusted his flight gear, and waited for word to start the engine. Of the incoming nine Japanese bombers, at this time five had already been shot down. Butch, still on the flight deck in his F4F, awaited his turn, anxiously watching as the bombers, although steadily decreasing in number, drew nearer. Finally he and his wingman got away and took of. At 1700, the ''Lexington'' picked up on its s, with 450 rounds per gun, enough for about 34 seconds of firing. Butch O'Hare didn't hesitate, full throttle, he roared into the Japanese enemy formation. His attack was a high-side diving attack employing accurate deflection shooting. While tracers from the concentrated fire of the eight bombers streaked around him, he took careful aim at the trailing bomber on the extreme right of the V formation and squeezed his trigger. Slugs from the Wildcat's four .50-caliber guns ripped into the Japanese bomber's wing. Since the ''Betty's'' wing fuel tanks were not Self-sealing , the bomber was extremely vulnerable. The stricken ''Betty'' abruptly lurched to starboard, so O'Hare ducked to the other side of the V formation and aimed at the enemy bomber on the extreme left. When he made his third and fourth firing pass, the Japanese planes were close enough to the American ships for them to fire their Anti-aircraft guns. O'Hare's hits were so concentrated, the nacelle of a ''Betty'' literally jumped out of its mountings, after O'Hare blew up the ''Betty's'' port engine. Finally O'Hare had shot down five bombers, and damaged a sixth. Only three of the bombers made it in close enough to release their bombs, but all their 550lb bombs fell harmlessly into the sea, leaving no doubt that O'Hare's actions helped save his carrier from serious damage. With his ammunition exhausted, Butch O'Hare returned to his carrier. As O'Hare approached, suddenly a jittery anti-aircraft gunner manning one of the .50-caliber water-cooled machine guns on the ''Lex's'' port quarter opened-up on O'Hare's slow-moving Wildcat, luckily missing him. Butch nevertheless came on in and landed. When O'Hare climbed out of his cockpit, his first request was for a glass of water. Amazingly, his plane had been hit by only one bullet during his attack on the Japanese bombers, the single bullet hole in F-15's port wing had disabled the airspeed indicator. According to Thach, Butch then walked aft along the port side to where he could look down into the catwalk and the gun platform. Butch calmly said to the deeply embarrassed gunner, who had fired at him, ''"Son, if you don't stop shooting at me when I've got my wheels down, I'm going to have to report you to the gunnery officer."'' That was sufficient punishment. Lt. Commander Thach later reported that at one point he saw three of the enemy bombers falling in flames at the same time. By now Thach and the other pilots had joined the fight. This was lucky because O'Hare was out of ammunition. O'Hare's attack was an amazing example of shooting skill. Thach figured out, that O'Hare had used only sixty rounds of ammunition for each bomber he destroyed. In the opinion of Admiral Brown and of Captain Frederick C. Sherman , commanding the ''Lexington'', Lieutenant O'Hare's skill and daring may have saved the carrier from serious damage or even loss. By 1900 all ''Lexington'' planes had been landed except for two F4F-3 Wildcats which were shot down while attacking enemy bombers. It is of interest to note that both planes were lost while making steady, no-deflection runs from astern of their targets. The pilot of one fighter was picked up after parachuting to safety. The other, Ensign John Woodrow Wilson, sank with his plane. The ''Lexington'' returned after the . On 26 March the ''Lexington'' docked at Pearl Harbor. Butch was greeted there by a horde of reporters and radio announcers instead of the traditional Hawaiian girl carrying a lei. During a radio broadcast in Honolulu, he enjoyed the opportunity to say hello to Rita ''("Here's a great big radio hug, the best i can do under the circumstances")'' and to his mother ''("Love from me to you")''. On 8 April he thanked the Grumman Aircraft Corporation plant at Bethpage (where the F4F Wildcat was made) for 1,150 cartons of Lucky Strike cigarettes, a grand total of 230,000 smokes. Ecstatic Grumman workers had passed the hat to buy the cigarettes in appreciation of O'Hare's combat victories in one of their F4F Wildcats. A loyal Camel smoker, Butch opened a carton, deciding, that it was the least he could do for the good people back in Bethpage. In his letter to the Grumman employees he wrote, ''"You build them, we'll fly them and between us, we can't be beaten."'' It was a sentiment he would voice often in the following two months. For shooting down five bombers O'Hare now was called a Flying Ace and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander . After returning stateside, he was awarded the Medal Of Honor , the highest decoration of his country, awarded by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress . With President Franklin D. Roosevelt looking on, O'Hare's wife Rita placed the Medal around his neck. Full text of the citation for Medal of Honor awarded to Lieutenant Edward Henry O'Hare: ''"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in aerial combat, at grave risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as section leader and pilot of Fighting Squadron 3 on 20 February 1942. Having lost the assistance of his teammates, Lt. O'Hare interposed his plane between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers. Without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machinegun and cannon fire. Despite this concentrated opposition, Lt. O'Hare, by his gallant and courageous action, his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition, shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. As a result of his gallant action--one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation--he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage."'' (''Comment'': O'Hare and everyone else on the American side in 1942 thought that nine planes constituted the second wave, but actually there were only eight, as Japanese war records are showing.) Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry Butch O'Hare received further decorations later in 1943. Flying a F4F-3A Wildcat (BuNo 3986 "white F-13") as Thach's wingman for shooting publicity footage on 11 April 1942, the Medal of Honor presentation on 21 April 1942, a parade in his hometown St. Louis on 25 April 1942, speaking on War Bond tours and later serving as an instructor, Butch was out of combat from early 1942 until late 1943. On 19 June 1942 O'Hare assumed command of VF-3, relieving Lt. Comdr. Jimmy Thach. From mid-1942, O'Hare was assigned to Maui, Hawaii, to instruct other pilots in combat tactics. The US Navy pulled its best combat pilots out of action to train newer pilots while the Japanese kept their best pilots flying. Ensign Edward L. "Whitey" Feightner (who retired from active duty in the Navy 1 July 1974 as Rear Admiral) served with O'Hare in July 1942 on Maui. Ensign Feightner later told, that one of best pieces of information Butch passed on to him was how to fight the Japanese Mitsubishi ''Zero'' fighters. O'Hare told him, ''"If you ever jump one of these Zeros and you surprise him, remember, the first thing he's going to do is a loop. Don't follow him into it! By the time you go into it a second time, he'll be behind you. The first thing you should do when he starts up the loop is make a hard right turn and keep turning. You'll come right around, and when he bottoms out of the loop, you'll be right on his tail!"'' O'Hare told also, ''"First of all, remember, in today's world, whenever you take off and engage the enemy, you're going to be outnumbered. If you want to survive this War, you have to look behind you every chance you get. Even when you pull the trigger, be sure to look behind because there's gonna be someone back there."'' The following Anecdote about Butch O'Hare serving as an instructor on hawaii mid-1942 is excerpted from the April 1999 "Flight Journal" article ''"8 A.M., JULY 1942, MAUI. Swimming and serving with Butch O'Hare"'', personal memoirs of RADM (USN Ret.) Edward L. Feightner: At the end of March 1943 O'Hare met a young Naval Reserve Ensign just out of flight school who showed the same kind of promise O'Hare had shown Thach. Butch made Ensign Alexander Vraciu his wingman, and taught him everything he knew. On July 15, 1943, Butch O'Hare's Fighting Three " Felix The Cat " VF-3 squadron swapped designations with VF-6 squadron - now both squadrons claimed the "Felix" mascot and call-sign after the switch, which caused a controversy for the next three years. The "Felix" patch was so popular, it was immediately adopted by the former VF-6 squadron, but "Felix" faced to the right instead of to the left. "Felix" was originally officially adopted by the US Navy in late 1928 by VB-2B squadron in Coronado, California - Lieutenant Chourre’ of VB-2B created the famous emblem Felix happily carrying a bomb with a burning fuse. VB-2B retained the insignia through the 1930s when they became a fighter squadron under the designations VF-6B and, later, VF-3. Back to Combat Duty Promotions came rapidly and in summer 1943 O'Hare became commander of Fighting Squadron Six flying the new Grumman F6F Hellcat (the highly successful follow-on to the Wildcat) from the light carrier USS ''Independence'' (CVL-22) - the arrival of the F6Fs with their powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines in late 1943, combined with the deployment of the new ''Essex'' Class Aircraft Carriers and the ''Independence'' Class Aircraft Carriers immediately gave the US Pacific Fleet air supremacy wherever the Fast Carrier Force operated. The F6F-3 Hellcat's first combat mission occurred on August 31, 1943, in a strike against Marcus Island . The new Grumman Hellcat did well against the Japanese fighters, and proved that with the right tactics & teamwork the beginning of the end was at hand for the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. For his actions in battles near Marcus Island on August 31, 1943, O'Hare was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Flying Cross in subsequent air actions near Wake Island on October 5, 1943. The Distinguished Flying Cross Citation and the Gold Star Citation . On October 10, 1943, O'Hare flew with VF-6 again in the air strikes against Wake Island. On this mission Lt.(jg) Alex Vraciu, the future ace, was his wingman - both Butch and Vraciu scored that day. When they came across an enemy formation Butch took the outside airplane and Vraciu took the inside plane. Butch went below the clouds to get a Japanese Mitsubishi ''Zero'' and Vraciu lost him, so Vraciu kept an eye on a second ''Zero'' that went to Wake Island and landed. Vraciu Strafed the ''Zero'' on the ground, then saw a ''Betty'' bomber and shot it down. Upon returning to the carrier, O'Hare asked Vraciu where he went and Vraciu knew then that he should have definitely stayed with his leader. Alex Vraciu later told after the war, ''"O'Hare taught many of the squadron members little things that would later save their lives. One example was to swivel your neck before starting a strafing run to make sure enemy fighters were not on your tail."'' Vraciu also learned from O'Hare the ''"highside pass"'' used for attacking the Japanese Mitsubishi ''Betty'' bombers. The highside technique was used to avoid the fatal 20-mm fire of the ''Betty's'' tail gunner. The Wake Island raid would be the last occasion Butch would lead VF-6 in battle. According to orders dated 17 September 1943, October found Butch O'Hare as s, the squadron had made itself just too useful filling out the light carrier air groups, and AirPac had no well-trained replacements on hand. As a result, Fighting Squadron Two (VF-2) boarded the USS ''Enterprise'' from November 1943 and became now Butch's new Fighting Squadron. While he readied his new air group, he suffered what he intended as only a temporary separation from his beloved VF-6 "Felix the Cat" Squadron. The news, that the CO had to leave them, hit also the men of VF-6 hard. O'Hare first flew a TBM-1 Avenger as CAG-6 command aircraft with bombardier Del Delchamps, AOM1/c and radioman Hal Coleman as crew members. With its good radio facilities, docile handling, and long range, the Grumman Avenger made an ideal command aircraft for Air Group Commanders (CAGs), but Butch considered the Grumman torpedo bomber as a 'lame turkey' compared to the Grumman F6F fighter. When Air Group Six boarded the ''Enterprise'', the Admiral honored a request from O'Hare to take a fighter as command aircraft instead of the Avenger. From November 20-23, 1943, the US forces landed in the Gilberts (Tarawa and Makin), and the ''Enterprise'' joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Island. Equipped with the Grumman F6F Hellcat , the US Navy fighter pilots owned the skies and could protect the fleet from attacking Japanese aircraft. Mission into Darkness Faced with US daylight Air Superiority , the Japanese quickly developed tactics to send torpedo-armed Mitsubishi G4M ''Betty'' bombers on night missions from their bases in the Marianas against the US aircraft carriers. In late November they launched these low-altitude strikes almost nightly to get at ''Enterprise'' and other American ships, so Admiral Arthur W. Radford, O'Hare and Cdr. Tom Hamilton, CV-6 Air Officer, were deeply involved in developing ad hoc counter-tactics, the first carrier-based night fighter operations of the US Navy. O'Hare's plan required the Carrier's Fighter Director Officer (FDO) to spot incoming enemy formations at a distance and send a 'Bat Team' section consisting of a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber and two F6F Hellcat fighters toward the Japanese intruders. Although improvements in new types of aviation Radar were soon forthcoming from the engineers at MIT and the electronic industry, the available primitive radars in 1943 were very bulky, attributed to the fact, they contained Vacuum Tube technology. Radars were carried only on the roomy TBF Avengers, but not on the smaller and faster Hellcats, so the radar-equipped TBF Avenger would lead the Hellcats into position behind the incoming bombers, close enough for the F6F pilots to spot visually the blue exhaust flames of the Japanese bombers. Finally, the Hellcats would close in and shoot down the torpedo-carrying bombers. One of the four 'Bat Team' fighter pilots to conduct this experimental night fighter operations to intercept and destroy enemy bombers attacking Allied landing forces was Lt. Roy Marlin Voris , who later founded the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels . On the night of 27 November 1943, the ''Enterprise'' introduced the experiment in the co-operative control of Avengers and Hellcats for night fighting, when the three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking Task Group TG 50.2. O'Hare volunteered to lead this mission to conduct the first-ever Navy nighttime fighter attack from an aircraft carrier to intercept a large force of enemy torpedo bombers. When the call came to man the planes, Butch O'Hare was eating. He grabbed up part of his supper in his fist and started running for the ready room. He was dressed in loose marine coveralls. The night fighter unit consisting of 1 VT and 2 VF was catapulted between 1758 and 1801. The pilots for this flight were Butch O'Hare and Ensign W. A. Skon of VF-2 in F6F's and the Squadron Commander of VT-6, LCMDR. J. L. Phillips in a TBF1-C. The crew of the TBF torpedo plane consisted on Lt.(jg) H. B. Rand, a radar specialist and Alvin Kernan, A. B., AOM1/c. The 'Black Panthers', as the night fighters were dubbed, took off before dusk and flew out into the incoming mass of Japanese planes. Confusion and complications muddled the mission. The Hellcats first had trouble finding the Avenger, the FDO had difficulty guiding any of them on the targets. O'Hare and Ensign W. Skon in their F6F Hellcats finally got into position behind the Avenger. Butch O'Hare had been well aware of the deadly danger of friendly fire in this situation - he radioed to the Avenger Pilot of his section, ''"Hey, Phil, turn those running lights on. I want to be sure it's a yellow devil I'm drilling."'' O'Hare was last seen at the 5 o'clock position of the TBF. About that time, the TBF crew identified a Japanese G4M ''Betty'' bomber behind the Hellcats, on O'Hare's 6. The turret gunner of the TBF, Alvin Kernan (AOM1/c) immediately opened fire and a Japanese ''Betty'' gunner fired back. O'Hare's F6F Hellcat apparently was caught in a crossfire - moments later, Butch failed to respond to the radio. It is not known if the gunner of the TBF or the nose gunner of the Japanese ''Betty'' hit O'Hare's F6F Hellcat. The Avenger pilot, Lt. Cmdr. John L. Phillips called repeatedly, ''"Butch, this is Phil... Butch, this is Phil... Butch, this is Phil..."'' but received no word from O'Hare. Last seen, O'Hare's Hellcat was slanting into the ocean. Lt. Cmdr. Phillips asserted, he saw something drop almost in a straight line and splash. It remained on the water a long time, therefore he believed it was a parachute. Lt. Cmdr. Phillips took a fix on the position and immediately reported it to the ship, where the navigator took a position with the stars. As soon as daylight came a three plane search from the ''Enterprise'' (Avengers equipped with survival gear to drop to Butch should he be sighted) was made of the area, but no trace of Butch or his plane was found. On November 29 a ''Dumbo'' search ( PBY Catalina flying boat) was conducted, again with negative results, so Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare finally was reported lost . His mother, Mrs. Selma O'Hare and his wife Rita were notified by the US Navy department of his disappearance. The hardest thing O'Hare's former wingman Lt. Alex Vraciu had to do was to talk to O'Hare's wife Rita after returning stateside. As O'Hare went missing on November 27, 1943, and was presumed dead a year later, his widow Rita received her husband's Posthumous decorations, a Purple Heart and the Navy Cross on November 27, 1944. Since September 1949, O'Hare's name and rank is engraved on the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific "Wall of the Missing" in Honolulu. The Patriots Point Naval Museum is honoring O'Hare with a F4F-3A on display and a plaque dedicated by the USS ''Yorktown'' CV-10 association, ''"May Butch O'Hare rest in peace..."'' SEE ALSO REFERENCES 1.) "Fateful Rendezvous: The Life of Butch O'Hare" Cover-Photo by Steve Ewing, John B. Lundstrom, 1997, ISBN 1557502471 2.) "Legends of Airpower, DVD, Episode #309: Edward "Butch" O'Hare" Cover-Photo: (DVD contains some mistakes: Grumman F6F is shown instead of announced F4F; instead of announced picture of O’Hare’s wife Rita there is shown a wrong picture of his sister Marilyn; a photo of the Medal of Honor parade in 1942 is announced as the funeral of his father in 1939; Butch did not have ''two'' children, he only had a daughter, Kathleen.) EXTERNAL LINKS
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