In the 1920s, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. He was notorious for corrupting the windy city with everything from bootlegging (illegal liquor) to prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer nicknamed ‘Easy Eddie’. Eddie was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason – he was very good. In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal manoeuvring kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid Eddie very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie and his family occupied a walled mansion with live-in help and all 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. But Eddie did have one soft spot – a family he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars and a good education. Money was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him 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 – a good name and a good example.
One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. He wanted to rectify the wrongs he had done, so decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al Capone. He decided he would clean up his own tarnished name and offer his son some integrity. To do this he would have to testify against The Mob which he knew would cost him dearly.
Not long after he testified against them, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. In his pockets were a rosary, a cross, a religious medallion, and a poem he had 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, so live and love and toil with will,
And place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still.”
Remembering Butch O’Hare
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare, a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS 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 squadron leader told him to return to the carrier, so he reluctantly dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.
As he was returning to the Lexington, he saw something that turned his blood cold – a squadron of Japanese aircraft speeding its way towards the American fleet.
His colleagues were away on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenceless. 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, Butch dived into the formation of Japanese planes with wing-mounted 50 calibre guns blazing, attacking one surprised enemy plane after another. He wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was used up. Undaunted, he continued the assault diving at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in the hope of damaging as many 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 relayed the events surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera, mounted on his plane, told the tale and showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had destroyed five enemy aircraft.
This event took place on February 20, 1942 and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of WWII, 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 hometown would not allow the memory of their hero to fade, and today O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to his courage.
So, if you ever find yourself at O’Hare International Airport, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It is located between Terminals 1 and 2.
So, what do Al Capone and Butch O’Hare have in common?
Butch O’Hare was Easy Eddie’s son.
Redemption stories such as these never fail to inspire – provided the lessons are heeded.
In the wake of the recent South Australian election, several clear lessons emerge.
Multiple scandals, leadership churn (four leaders in four years), defections, and internal divisions left the Liberal Party in South Australia with a badly tarnished brand.
In a decisive rejection that stripped them of relevance, voters delivered at the ballot box the equivalent of that ‘blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street’. The clock had stilled.
The real test now is whether the Liberals will heed the poem’s advice: ‘Toil with will, place no faith in time’, and choose the hard road of a good name over the easy road of power.
They say it’s the grit that forms the pearl. Suffering, difficulties, trials, crises are the grit that leads to the pearl.
The Liberal Party needs to embrace the humiliation of their election defeat and do whatever it takes to make it a fitter vessel for voters to support.
It is what turned Easy Eddie into the father of a hero whose memorial still stands to this day.
As for the Australian Family Party, we were swept away by the political tsunami that is One Nation.
One Nation, which has polled, on average, 4 per cent for the past 16 years in South Australia, polled 24 per cent of the vote. A 20 per cent increase – or 260,000 more voters than at the previous election!
A huge number of people who would normally vote for one of the parties on the Right (Liberals, Nationals, Christian parties, Libertarians, etc) went over to One Nation.
There is no doubt that what One Nation has done in South Australia will reverberate around Australia. And they will more than likely do the same at the Victorian election in November, the NSW election next March, and then the big one – the Federal election in 2028.
Having said all that, here at the Australian Family Party, we did everything we could to present an alternative on the Right side of politics – as did other minor parties. All of us succumbed to the One Nation juggernaut.
Thank you to everyone who helped with the campaign – candidates, volunteers and supporters all.
Those who were able to attend the election night function at the Rydges would have enjoyed good company and an upbeat atmosphere.
Special thanks to our campaign partner – Gerard Rennick’s People First Party – for sponsoring the evening.
It was great working with you all on this campaign.