{"id":302,"date":"2011-04-29T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/the-gangster-the-hero-and-the-example-ill-leave-my-sons\/"},"modified":"2011-04-29T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T11:00:00","slug":"the-gangster-the-hero-and-the-example-ill-leave-my-sons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/the-gangster-the-hero-and-the-example-ill-leave-my-sons\/","title":{"rendered":"The gangster, the hero, and the example I’ll leave my sons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O\u2019Hare.\u00a0 \n

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. His last day on earth was a heroic one.\u00a0His squadron was sent on a mission, but soon after he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.\u00a0He would have to turn back.<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\nReluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.\u00a0As he was returning to the, he saw a coming horde of Japanese aircraft. They were\u00a0speeding their <\/span>way toward the defenseless American fleet.\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
All of the others were out on a sortie, so it was just him. But that was no detterent. He dove into the formation of Japanese planes, his 50 caliber guns firing away. When all of his ammuition was spent, he tried to clip\u00a0tails or wings\u00a0with his prop.\u00a0No plane was safe. Five aircraft were downed. Countless others, crippled.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Frustrated, wounded and decimated, the squadron called off the attack and returned home.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He continued to fly and was killed in aerial combat at\u00a0the age of 29. He was awarded the Congressional Medal Honor, the nation\u2019s highest.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
His hometown named an airport\u00a0after him. You might have heard\u00a0of it \u00a0\u2014 O\u2019Hare Airport in Chicago.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And Chicago. This was the\u00a0same town that\u00a0\u00a0Al Capone owned. It was\u00a0Butch O\u2019Hare\u2019s father \u2014 Eddie \u2014 who was Capone\u2019s personal lawyer, the one mentioned in yesterday\u2019s post.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eddie\u00a0O\u2019Hare helped Capone skirt the law, hide money, and invest in shady operations for years. He lived\u00a0off the fruits of crime until\u00a0his own consicience and the awful reality that his son was watching got the best of him. Eddie eventually brought down Capone, so that his son would see that indeed, redemption was possible<\/em>.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve not always been the best father. In fact, my words were always grand,\u00a0but my actions were sometimes weak. My rhetoric was bold holy, my actions cowardly human. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nAnd\u00a0now that they are grown, I wonder about the redemption message. I wonder what they\u00a0\u00a0learned. I wonder about what kind of example I\u2019ve been. Will they trust God? Will they see past my imperfections and\u00a0see Him? I have so much regret.<\/span>
<\/span>
Then I think about the gangsters lawyer. And his son, the hero.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Care to comment?<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O\u2019Hare.\u00a0 He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. His last day on earth was a heroic one.\u00a0His squadron was sent on a mission, but soon after he was airborne, he looked at his fuel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe gangster, the hero, and the example I'll leave my sons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World War II produced many heroes. 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