"Butch O'Hare Exhibit, O'Hare International Airport - Chicago,IL" Waymark

Long Description:
From Wikipedia (visit link)

"Lt. Commander Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare (13 March 1914 – 26 November 1943) was a naval aviator of the United States Navy who on 20 February 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 26 November 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 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 19 September 1949, the Chicago, Illinois airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport. The airport displays a Grumman F4F-3[1][2] 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."

FYI The exhibit is permanent. It has been there since 1997. Here's an article from the Tribune when it was installed: (visit link)

Also (visit link) describes how the aircraft was recovered, to be restored and installed at O'Hare.

Website pertaining to the memorial: [Web Link] List if there are any visiting hours: 24 x 7 Entrance fees (if it applies): 0 Type of memorial: Sign

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Date Logged Log User Rating   8/5/2009 tamaranathan visited it 6/17/2009 NorStar visited it 6/13/2008 benh57 visited it

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