Butch and Eddie

An e-mail this morning from my father-in-law, Stan the Man, contained the inspirational story of Butch and Eddie O'Hare... and unlike many of the inspirational stories circulating on the Internet, it turns out to be basically true: Mob lawyer Eddie O'Hare changes his ways and sets a good character example for his son, Butch, who winds up a war hero (for whom Chicago's O'Hare Airport is named.)

However, there's a cynic in every crowd. Over at AmericanMafia.com, John William Tuohy has a somewhat jaded take on the story, which doesn't detract one iota from the story of a father's love for his son, but does provide some dark shading for the details:

When Butch was about to graduate from high school, he told his father that he wanted to go to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, which required the backing of a local representative in Congress.

At the same time, Capone was locked in the midst of his tax fight with the government, which was desperately trying to put Capone away.

It so happened that one day Eddie O'Hare ran into a reporter from the St. Louis Post Dispatch named John Rogers, who was also a friend of one of the prosecutors going after Capone.

Rogers knew that O'Hare wanted to get his son into Annapolis. Introductions were made and a deal was cut, Butch O'Hare would enter Annapolis if Eddie O'Hare would play ball with the government and inform on Capone, which he did and did well.

Nothing like a little quid pro quo to bring a heartwarming story down to earth.

Still, a great story, and one I thought y'all might enjoy on a dreary winter morning.