'''Edward "Butch" O'Hare''' was the [[United States Navy|US Navy]]'s first [[Flying ace|fighter ace]] of [[World War II]], and a recipient of the [[Medal of Honor]].
Edward O’Hare was born in St. Louis, [[Missouri]] on March 12, 1914. His father, E.J, “Easy” O’Hare, was a businessman, attorney and associate of Al Capone.<ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6404767 E.J. O’Hare at FindaGrave.com]</ref> The young O’Hare was enrolled in the Western Military Academy at age 13, where he excelled in marksmanship. He graduated in 1932, and went on to the [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis]]. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the battleship ''New Mexico'', and spent two years on surface ships. In 1939, O’Hare began his flight training. Once he completed his advanced training, he was assigned to VF-3 (Fighter squadron 3) on board the [[Lexington-class battlecruiser|USS ''Saratoga'']], where he met John “Jimmy” Thach, then executive officer of the squadron. Thach, who was to become a legend in World War II for his fighter tactics, immediately recognized O’Hare as a natural-born flier, and became a mentor to the young pilot.<ref> [http://www.acepilots.com/usn_ohare.html AcePilots.com]</ref>
At the time, VF-3 flew the F3F, a [[Grumman]]-built biplane, but in July 1941, the squadron made the switch to the [[F4F Wildcat|Grumman Wildcat]]. That month was important to Butch for another, more personal reason. He met his future wife, Rita Wooster, and they were married six weeks later.
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==Further Readingreading==
*''Fateful Rendevous: the Life of Butch O’Hare'', by Steve Ewing and John B. Lundstrom, Naval Institute Press, 1997