O’Hare, Edward Henry (1914-1943), was a United States Navy fighter pilot during World War II (1939-1945). O’Hare was the first naval aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government.
Edward Henry O’Hare, often called “Butch,” was born on March 13, 1914, in St. Louis. In 1933, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. O’Hare spent his first two years of naval service on the battleship USS New Mexico. He began flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, in 1939. In 1940, O’Hare joined a fighter squadron aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.
The Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack brought the United States into World War II. In early 1942, a Japanese torpedo damaged Saratoga. O’Hare’s squadron then transferred to the carrier USS Lexington.
On Feb. 20, 1942, O’Hare was credited with shooting down five Japanese bombers that were attacking Lexington in the South Pacific Ocean. O’Hare was promoted to lieutenant commander and awarded the Medal of Honor. He then went on a publicity tour of the United States, during which he promoted war bonds.
O’Hare next served as a squadron commander in Hawaii. He returned to combat in 1943 aboard the carrier USS Independence. O’Hare earned further decorations during air attacks on Marcus and Wake islands in the central Pacific. On the night of Nov. 26, 1943, O’Hare’s plane was shot down while engaging an enemy bomber force. His body was never recovered. He was declared dead on Nov. 27, 1944.
In 1946, the Navy launched a destroyer (major warship) named after O’Hare. In 1949, Chicago’s Orchard Field Airport was renamed O’Hare Airport.
See also Enterprise ; Lexington ; World War II (The war in Asia and the Pacific) .
