NEAM Notes - A Guy Named Butch & F4F White 15

Mark Sullivan, NEAM Volunteer

If you go through Terminal 2 at O’Hare International you will see a stubby little fighter plane. That Grumman F4F is very similar to the F4F in the NEAM collection. The museum’s is, however, a Martlet, an F4F, used by the British. NEAM’s plane was on a pilon outside Windsor Locks, CT townhall for many years before being donated to the museum.

Getting back to F4F White 15, it is the centerpiece of a memorial to Lt. Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare. White 15 was O’Hare’s callsign. Chicago wanted to make sure the memorial was as accurate as possible so they painted the airplane to look exactly like the one O’Hare flew on February 20, 1942. That day he was credited shooting down five Japanese bombers in one mission and possibly saving the carrier USS Lexington. That made Butch the first Navy Ace and a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. His bravery and accomplishments led Chicago to name its new airport after him in 1949.

O’Hare was born in St. Louis and graduated from Annapolis in 1937. After two years of sea duty he volunteered for aviation. He was eventually assigned to fighting squadron VF-3. There under the eye of John Thach, squadron executive officer, he would learn the skills needed to tangle with the experienced Japanese aviators in their fast and nimble A6M Zeros. Thach developed tactics, such as the “Thach Weave,” that would level the playing field for the Wildcat.

On that day in February 1942, O’Hare and his wingman were the only planes available to go after a second attack by Japanese G4M “Betty” bombers on the Lexington. O’Hare’s wingman’s guns jammed so Butch and his four 50 caliber Browning machine guns had to tackle the enemy alone.

His Congressional Medal of Honor citation reads:

Lt. O’Hare, by his gallant and courageous action…shot down five enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. By his gallant and daring action he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage.

After a hero’s welcome home and a whirlwind tour, including a stop to thank Grumman employees, he returned to sea duty. Now a Lt. Commander, O’Hare became air group commander on the USS Enterprise. In November, 1943 he helped devise “Black Panther,” a night-fighting tactic to go after Japanese aircraft hitting the Gilbert Islands campaign. It was the Navy’s first carrier launched night-fighting mission. In a confused melee on November 26, 1943, O’Hare’s F6F Hellcat was hit and disappeared.  He was never found and left behind his wife Rita and infant daughter Kathleen. Lt. Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, was 29.