Two stories worth reading

[Jall]

-----STORY NUMBER ONE:
>
> Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't
> famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the
> windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to
>murder.
>
> Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was his lawyer for a
>good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal
>maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. To show his
>appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big,
>but also Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family
>occupied a fenced-in
> mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day.
> The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
>Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little
>consideration to the atrocities that went on around him.
>
> Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved
>dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had the best of everything:
>clothes, cars and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no
>object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even
>tried to teachhim right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a
>better man than he was.Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there
>were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good
>name and a good example.
>
> One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted
> to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the
> authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up
>his
> tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do
>this, he
> would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost
>would be
> great. So,he testified.
>
> Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a
>lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the
>greatest
> gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he would ever pay.
>
> Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious
>medallion and a poem clipped from a magazine.
>
> The poem read:
>
> The clock of life is wound but once
> And no man has the power
> To tell just when the hands will stop
> At late or early hour.
> Now is the only time you own.
> Live, love, toil with a will.
> Place no faith in time.
> For the clock may soon be still.
>
>
>
>
>
>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. 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 were speeding their way
> toward the American fleet.
>
> The American fighters were gone on a mission, 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 them from the fleet.
>
> Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the
> formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he
> charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another.
>Butch wove in
> and out of the now broken 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 and 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 W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to
> win the Congressional 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.
>
> So the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give
> some thought to visiting 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.
>

[Glen Beamish]

I got to the end and my mouth dropped.
Great stories.

[Burton Borrok]

Geeze,
I thought you were going to write that Easy Eddie’s wife was Easy Edie, who also worked for the mob - in a different capacity, - and it was later found, using DNA samples, that Dare Devil Butch was not really related to Easy Eddie at all.

Just shows you how the public mindset has changed with the TV and movie stories of today. By the way, you do know that Big Al (Scar face) Capone actually died completely crazy in the final stages of Syphilis, don’t you? The end of the high life of a low life.

By the way, the much loved mayor of Las Vegas was originally a lawyer to the mob. He was just caught in a dust-up because he truthfully answered a fifth grader who asked if he drank. His defense was, “If you ask me a question you will get a truthful answer.” (Go figure.)
Burt

[Jall]

Burt: I sense a slight hint of anti-lawyer sentiment in some of your posts. I always tell my doctor friends that 200 some odd years ago when their predecessors were curing the sick with leaches, my predecessors were writing the Declaration of Independance.

[michael obrien]

jall that was a great story.mike

[Burton Borrok]

That’s great Jall, but how many of the framers of the Constitution were lawyers by profession? (Oops.)

By the way, I am not against lawyers in any way – the good ones that is. I have used them to my great benefit in the past, and may yet again have need of them. But doctor’s, lawyers, and the others who work on behalf of their clients have to be guided in their activities just like any other worker who is permanently or temporarily in your employ. There just aren’t enough mind readers to go around – or ever were.

I am also not against doctors as a group, even though I rail out against the ones I feel are not doing a good job. By the way, it was usually the barbers that did ‘cupping’ and used leaches. Also, in the days of Richard the Lion Hearted, when most international disputes were settled by the sward, there were doctors performing such things as successful cataract surgery. The work of individuals does not usually expand to successfully illuminate the work of the group. The trick is to find the right individuals for the task at hand.

You obviously take pride in the work you do – and more power to you. My wife was a caseworker and worked with the courts in cases of battered and abused children. She was about to go back to school, in mid life, to become a lawyer when she developed epilepsy and her career went to ****. Also, at one time I worked on International Contracts for a major company who tried to cajole me into going back to school at night to get a law degree – but my heart was already set on the computer industry. Ah, the roads not taken.
Burt

[Jall]

Burt, i was actually pulling your leg a little. In reality, I am a connoisseur of lawyer jokes which many of my profession so richly deserve.