LCDR Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare, Medal of Honor

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LCDR Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare, Medal of Honor's Geni Profile

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LCDR Edward "Butch" O'Hare

Birthdate:
Birthplace: St Louis, Missouri, United States
Death: November 26, 1943 (29)
Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, Pacific Ocean (Shot down (friendly fire?) over the Pacific Ocean, no trace of O'Hare or his aircraft has ever been found)
Place of Burial: Pacific Ocean
Immediate Family:

Son of Edward "Easy Eddie" J. O'Hare and Selma Anna O'Hare
Husband of Rita Grace O'Hare
Father of Private
Brother of Patricia O'Hare and Marilyn O'Hare

Occupation: Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
Managed by: Ric Dickinson
Last Updated:
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Immediate Family

About LCDR Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare, Medal of Honor

Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was a naval aviator of the United States Navy who on February 20, 1942 became the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Butch O’Hare’s final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943, while he was leading the U.S. Navy’s first-ever nighttime fighter attack launched from an aircraft carrier. During this encounter with a group of Japanese torpedo bombers, O'Hare's F6F Hellcat was shot down; his aircraft was never found. In 1945, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS O'Hare (DD-889) was named in his honor. A few years later, O'Hare was honored when Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, suggested a name change of Chicago's Orchard Depot Airport as tribute to Butch O'Hare.

On September 19, 1949, the Chicago, Illinois airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport. The airport displays a Grumman F4F-3 museum aircraft replicating the one flown by Butch O'Hare during his Medal of Honor flight. The Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat on display was recovered virtually intact from the bottom of Lake Michigan, where it sank after a training accident in 1943 when it went off the training aircraft carrier USS Wolverine (IX-64). The Air Classics Museum restored the aircraft in 2001 to look like the exact one that O'Hare flew. The restored Wildcat is exhibited in Terminal Two at the west end of the ticketing lobby to honor O'Hare International Airport's namesake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_O%27Hare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O'Hare

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LCDR Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare, Medal of Honor's Timeline

1914
March 13, 1914
St Louis, Missouri, United States
1943
November 26, 1943
Age 29
Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, Pacific Ocean
November 26, 1943
Age 29
Pacific Ocean