Edward O ' Hare Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry “ Butch ” O ’ Hare ( March 13 , 1914 – November 26 , 1943 ) was an Irish - American naval aviator of the United States Navy , who on February 20 , 1942 became the Navy ' s first flying ace when he single - handedly attacked a formation of 9 heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier . Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition , he managed to shoot down or damage several enemy bombers . On April 21 , 1942 , he became the first naval recipient of the US Medal of Honor in World War II . 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 was named in his honor . A few years later , Colonel Robert R . McCormick , publisher of the " Chicago Tribune " , suggested that the name of Chicago ' s Orchard Depot Airport be changed as a tribute to Butch O ' Hare . On September 19 , 1949 , the Chicago , Illinois airport was renamed O ' Hare International Airport to honor O ' Hare ' s bravery . 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 . In 2001 , the Air Classics Museum remodeled the aircraft to replicate the F4F - 3 Wildcat that O ' Hare flew on his Medal of Honor flight . The restored Wildcat is exhibited in the west end of Terminal 2 behind the security checkpoint to honor O ' Hare International Airport ' s namesake . Early life . Edward Henry " Butch " O ' Hare was born in St . Louis , Missouri to Edward Joseph O ' Hare and Selma O ' Hare . Butch had two sisters , Patricia and Marilyn . When their parents divorced in 1927 , Butch and his sisters stayed with their mother Selma in St . Louis while their father Edward moved to Chicago . Butch ' s father was a lawyer who worked closely with Al Capone before turning against him and helping convict Capone of tax evasion . Butch O ' Hare graduated from the Western Military Academy in 1932 . The following year , he went on to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland . Graduated and appointed an Ensign on June 3 , 1937 , he served two years on board the battleship . In 1939 , he started flight training at NAS Pensacola in Florida , learning the basics on Naval Aircraft Factory N3N - 1 " Yellow Peril " and Stearman NS - 1 biplane trainers , and later on the advanced SNJ trainer . On the nimble Boeing F4B - 4A , he trained in aerobatics as well as aerial gunnery . He also flew the SBU Corsair and the TBD Devastator . In November 1939 , his father was shot to death , most likely by Al Capone ' s gunmen . During Capone ' s tax evasion trial in 1931 and 1932 , O ' Hare ' s father had provided incriminating evidence which helped finally put Capone away . There is speculation that this was done to ensure that Butch got into the Naval Academy , or to set a good example . Whatever the motivation , the elder O ' Hare was shot down in his car , a week before Capone was released from incarceration . When Butch finished his naval aviation training on May 2 , 1940 , he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Three ( VF - 3 ) . O ' Hare now trained on the Grumman F3F and then graduated to the Brewster F2A Buffalo . Lieutenant John Thach , then executive officer of VF - 3 , discovered O ' Hare ' s exceptional flying abilities and closely mentored the promising young pilot . Thach , who would later develop the Thach Weave aerial combat tactic , emphasized gunnery in his training . In 1941 , more than half of all VF - 3 pilots , including O ' Hare , earned the " E " for gunnery excellence . In early 1941 , Fighting Squadron Three transferred to , while carrier underwent maintenance and overhaul work at Bremerton Navy Yard . On Monday morning , July 21 , O ' Hare made his first flight in a Grumman F4F Wildcat . Following stops in Washington and Dayton , he landed in St . Louis on Tuesday . Visiting the wife of a friend in hospital that afternoon , O ' Hare met his future wife , nurse Rita Wooster , proposing to her the first time they met . After O ' Hare took instruction in Roman Catholicism to convert , he and Rita married in St . Mary ' s Catholic Church in Phoenix on Saturday , September 6 , 1941 . For their honeymoon , they sailed to Hawaii on separate ships , Butch on " Saratoga " , which had completed modifications at Bremerton , and Rita on the Matson liner " Lurline " . Butch was called to duty the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . On Sunday evening , January 11 , 1942 , as Butch and other VF - 3 officers ate dinner in the wardroom , the carrier " Saratoga " was damaged by a Japanese torpedo hit while patrolling southwest of Hawaii . She spent five months in repair on the west coast , so VF - 3 squadron transferred to the on January 31 . World War II service . Medal of Honor flight . O ' Hare ' s most famous flight occurred during the Pacific War on February 20 , 1942 . LT O ' Hare and his wingman were the only U . S . Navy fighters available in the air when a second wave of Japanese bombers were attacking his aircraft carrier " Lexington " . Butch O ' Hare was on board the aircraft carrier , which had been assigned the task of penetrating enemy - held waters north of New Ireland . While still 450 miles from the harbor at Rabaul , at 1015 , the " Lexington " picked up an unknown aircraft on radar 35 miles from the ship . A six - plane combat patrol was launched , two fighters being directed to investigate the contact . These two planes , under command of Lieutenant Commander John Thach shot down a four - engined Kawanishi H6K 4 Type 97 ( " " Mavis " " ) flying boat about 43 miles out at 1112 . Later two other planes of the combat patrol were sent to another radar contact 35 miles ahead , shooting down a second " Mavis " at 1202 . A third contact was made 80 miles out , but reversed course and disappeared . At 1542 a jagged vee signal drew the attention of the " Lex ' s " radar operator . The contact then was lost , but reappeared at 1625 forty - seven miles west and closing fast . Butch O ' Hare , flying F4F Wildcat BuNo 4031 " White F - 15 " , was one of several pilots launched to intercept the incoming 9 Japanese Mitsubishi G4M " " Betty " " bombers from " 2 . Chutai " of " 4 . Kokutai " , at this time five had already been shot down . At 1649 , the " Lexington ' s " radar picked up a second formation of " Bettys " from " 1 . Chutai " of " 4 . Kokutai " only 12 miles out , on the disengaged side of the task force , completely unopposed . The carrier had only two Wildcats left to confront the intruders : Butch and his wingman " Duff " Dufilho . As the " Lexington " ’ s only protection , they raced eastward and arrived 1 , 500 feet above eight attacking " Bettys " nine miles out at 1700 . Dufilho ’ s guns were jammed and wouldn ’ t fire , leaving only O ' Hare to protect the carrier . The enemy formation was a V of Vs flying very close together and using their rear - facing guns for mutual protection . O ' Hare ' s Wildcat , armed with four 50 - caliber guns , with 450 rounds per gun , had enough ammunition for about 34 seconds of firing . O ' Hare ' s initial maneuver was a high - side diving attack employing accurate deflection shooting . He accurately placed bursts of gunfire into a " Betty ' s " right engine and wing fuel tanks ; when the stricken craft of " Nitō Hikō Heisō " Tokiharu Baba ( " 3 . Shotai " ) on the right side of the formation abruptly lurched to starboard , he ducked to the other side of the V formation and aimed at the enemy bomber of " Ittō Hikō Heisō " Bin Mori ( " 3 . Shotai " ) on the extreme left . When he made his third and fourth firing passes , the Japanese planes were close enough to the American ships for them to fire their anti - aircraft guns . The five survivors managed to drop their ordnance , but all ten 250kg bombs missed . O ' Hare ' s hits were so concentrated , the nacelle of a " Betty " jumped out of its mountings , after O ' Hare blew up the leading " Shōsa " Takuzo Ito ' s " Betty ' s " port engine . O ' Hare believed he had shot down five bombers , and damaged a sixth . Lieutenant Commander Thach arrived at the scene with other pilots of the flight , later reporting that at one point he saw three of the enemy bombers falling in flames at the same time . In fact , O ' Hare destroyed only three " Bettys " : " Nitō Hikō Heisō " Tokiharu Baba ' s from " 3 . Shotai " , " Ittō Hikō Heisō " Susumu Uchiyama ' s ( flying at left wing of the leading V , " 1 . Shotai " ) and the leader of the formation , " Shōsa " Takuzo Ito ' s . This last ( flying on the head of leading V ) " Betty ' s " left engine was hit at the time it dropped its ordnance . Its pilot " Hikō Heisōchō " Chuzo Watanabe tried to hit " Lexington " with his damaged plane . He missed and flew into the water near " Lexington " at 1712 . Another two " Bettys " were damaged by O ' Hare ' s attacks . " Ittō Hikō Heisō " Kodji Maeda ( " 2 . Shotai " , left wing of V ) safely landed at Vunakanau airdrome and " Ittō Hikō Heisō " Bin Mori was later shot down by LT Noel Gayler ( " White F - 1 " , VF - 3 ) when trying to escape 40 miles from " Lexington " . With his ammunition expended , O ' Hare returned to his carrier , and was fired on accidentally but with no effect by a . 50 - caliber machine gun from the " Lexington " . O ' Hare ' s fighter had , in fact , been hit by only one bullet during his flight , the single bullet hole in F - 15 ' s port wing disabling the airspeed indicator . According to Thach , Butch then approached the gun platform to calmly say to the embarrassed anti - aircraft gunner who had fired at him , " " Son , if you don ' t stop shooting at me when I ' ve got my wheels down , I ' m going to have to report you to the gunnery officer . " " Thach calculated that O ' Hare had used only sixty rounds of ammunition for each bomber he destroyed ; an impressive feat of marksmanship . In the opinion of Admiral Brown and of Captain Frederick C . Sherman , commanding the " Lexington " , Lieutenant O ' Hare ' s actions may have saved the carrier from serious damage or even loss . By 1900 all " Lexington " planes had been recovered except for two F4F - 3 Wildcats shot down while attacking enemy bombers ; both were lost while making steady , no - deflection runs from astern of their targets . The pilot of one fighter was rescued , the other went down with his aircraft . The " Lexington " returned after the New Guinea raid to Pearl Harbor for repairs and to have her obsolete 8 - inch guns removed , transferring some of her F4F - 3 fighter planes to the including BuNo 4031 " White F - 15 " that O ' Hare had flown during his famous mission . The pilot assigned to fly this aircraft to " Yorktown " was admonished by O ' Hare just before take off to take good care of his plane . Moments later , the fighter unsuccessfully took off , rolling down the deck and into the water ; the pilot was recovered , but " White F - 15 " was lost . Accolades . On March 26 , Butch was greeted at Pearl Harbor by a horde of reporters and radio announcers . During a radio broadcast in Honolulu , he enjoyed the opportunity to say hello to Rita " ( " Here ' s a great big radio hug , the best I can do under the circumstances " ) " and to his mother " ( " Love from me to you " ) " . On April 8 , he thanked the Grumman Aircraft Corporation plant at Bethpage ( where the F4F Wildcat was made ) for 1 , 150 cartons of Lucky Strike cigarettes , a grand total of 230 , 000 smokes . Ecstatic Grumman workers had passed the hat to buy the cigarettes in appreciation of O ' Hare ' s combat victories in one of their F4F Wildcats . A loyal Camel smoker , Butch opened a carton , deciding that it was the least he could do for the good people back in Bethpage . In his letter to the Grumman employees he wrote , " " You build them , we ' ll fly them and between us , we can ' t be beaten . " " It was a sentiment he would voice often in the following two months . By shooting down five bombers O ' Hare became a flying ace , was selected for promotion to lieutenant commander , and became the first naval aviator to receive the Medal of Honor . With President Franklin D . Roosevelt looking on , O ' Hare ' s wife Rita placed the Medal around his neck . After receiving the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D . Roosevelt , then - LT O ' Hare was described as " " modest , inarticulate , humorous , terribly nice and more than a little embarrassed by the whole thing " . " O ' Hare received further decorations later in 1943 for actions in battles near Marcus Island in August and subsequent missions near Wake Island in October . Non - combat duty . O ' Hare was not employed on combat duty from early 1942 until late 1943 . Important events in this period included flying an F4F - 3A Wildcat ( BuNo 3986 " White F - 13 " ) as Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Thach ' s wingman for publicity footage on April 11 , 1942 , the Medal of Honor presentation at the White House on April 21 , and the welcome parade in O ' Hare ' s hometown on Saturday , April 25 , 1942 . The welcome parade was held in St . Louis . At the starting point , O ' Hare , wearing the impressive blue - ribboned Medal of Honor around his neck , was guided to the back seat of a black open Packard Phaeton , where he sat between his wife Rita and his mother Selma . The parade began at noon , led by a police motorcycle escort , then came the band from Jefferson Barracks , marching veterans , a truck packed with photographers , O ' Hare ' s Phaeton ( with a six - man Marine honor guard alongside ) and other open cars . Bringing up the rear was the entire 350 - member student body of Western Military Academy . St . Louis Mayor William Dee Becker presented O ' Hare with a gold navigator ' s four - dial watch engraved with the words " " To Lt . Commander Edward H . O ' Hare , USN , from a proud and grateful City of St . Louis , April 25 , 1942 " " . As Butch O ' Hare ' s mother and his sisters clipped newspaper stories and photos the following days , his place in history began to dawn on them . A newspaper headline read , " " 60 , 000 give O ' Hare a hero ' s welcome here . " " The United States in 1942 badly needed a live hero , and Butch O ' Hare was a young , handsome naval aviator , so he participated in several war bond tours the following months . On June 19 , 1942 O ' Hare assumed command of VF - 3 , relieving Lieutenant Commander Thach . He was relocated to Maui , Hawaii , to instruct other pilots in combat tactics . U . S . Navy policy was to use its best combat pilots to train newer pilots , in contrast to the Japanese practice of keeping their best pilots flying combat missions . Ensign Edward L . " Whitey " Feightner , who served with O ' Hare in July 1942 , later said that one of the best pieces of information O ' Hare passed on to him , was " " If you ever jump one of these Zeros and you surprise him , remember , the first thing he ' s going to do is a loop . Don ' t follow him into it ! By the time you go into it a second time , he ' ll be behind you . The first thing you should do when he starts up the loop is make a hard right turn and keep turning . You ' ll come right around , and when he bottoms out of the loop , you ' ll be right on his tail ! " " O ' Hare also related " " First of all , remember , in today ' s world , whenever you take off and engage the enemy , you ' re going to be outnumbered . If you want to survive this War , you have to look behind you every chance you get . Even when you pull the trigger , be sure to look behind because there ' s gonna be someone back there . " " An anecdote about O ' Hare , serving as an instructor on Hawaii mid - 1942 : On March 2 , 1943 , Butch met Rita and hugged his one - month - old daughter , Kathleen , for the first time . His family resided in Coronado at 549 Orange Avenue , near North Island NAS . At the end of March 1943 , O ' Hare made Ensign Alexander Vraciu , a young Naval Reservist just out of flight school , his wingman . On July 15 , 1943 , VF - 3 swapped designations with VF - 6 squadron . Return to combat . Equipped with the highly successful follow - on to the Wildcat , the new Grumman F6F - 3 Hellcat , two - thirds of VF - 6 ( twenty - four F6F - 3s ) under Butch O ' Hare ' s command embarked on August 22 , 1943 on the light carrier . The arrival of the F6Fs with their powerful Pratt & Whitney R - 2800 radial engines in late 1943 combined with the deployment of the new " Essex " class carriers and the " Independence " class carriers immediately gave the U . S . Pacific Fleet air supremacy wherever the Fast Carrier Force operated . The Hellcat ' s first combat mission occurred on August 31 , 1943 , in a strike against Marcus Island . The F6F did well against Japanese fighters , and proved that with the right tactics and teamwork the Japanese Zero need not be considered a superior enemy . VF - 6 ' s combat debut on the " Independence " also went reasonably well . For his actions in battles near Marcus Island on August 31 , 1943 , O ' Hare was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . For his actions in subsequent missions near Wake Island on October 5 , 1943 , O ' Hare was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Flying Cross . Now overseeing three squadrons , O ' Hare still insisted that everyone call him " Butch . " O ' Hare ' s VF - 6 squadron would " still stay broken up " among three light aircraft carrier s , the squadron had made itself just too useful filling out the light carrier air groups , and AirPac had no well - trained replacements on hand . As a result , Fighting Squadron Two ( VF - 2 ) boarded the USS " Enterprise " from November 1943 and became Butch ' s new Fighting Squadron . While he readied his new air group , he suffered what he intended as only a temporary separation from his beloved VF - 6 " Felix the Cat " Squadron . The news , that the CO had to leave them , hit also the men of VF - 6 hard . O ' Hare first flew a TBM - 1 Avenger as CAG - 6 command aircraft with bombardier Del Delchamps , AOM1 / c and radioman Hal Coleman as crew members . With its good radio facilities , docile handling , and long range , the Grumman Avenger made an ideal command aircraft for Air Group Commanders ( CAGs ) , but Butch considered the Grumman torpedo bomber as a ' lame turkey ' compared to the Grumman F6F fighter . Later Rear Admiral Radford honored a request from O ' Hare to take a fighter as command aircraft instead of the Avenger , so O ' Hare in a fateful decision happily drew Grumman F6F - 3 Hellcat Bureau Number 66168 from the fleet pool to become his principal CAG plane , numbered " 00 " . From 20 - November 23 , 1943 , the U . S . forces landed in the Gilberts ( Tarawa and Makin ) , and the " Enterprise " joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Island . Equipped with the Grumman F6F Hellcat , the U . S . Navy fighter pilots owned the skies and could protect the fleet from attacking Japanese aircraft . Final mission and death . Faced with U . S . daylight air superiority , the Japanese quickly developed tactics to send torpedo - armed Mitsubishi G4M " Betty " bombers on night missions from their bases in the Marianas against the U . S . aircraft carriers . In late November they launched these low - altitude strikes almost nightly to get at " Enterprise " and other American ships , so Rear Admiral Arthur W . Radford , O ' Hare and Commander Tom Hamilton , CV - 6 Air Officer , were deeply involved in developing ad hoc counter - tactics , the first carrier - based night fighter operations of the U . S . Navy . O ' Hare ' s plan required the Carrier ' s Fighter Director Officer ( FDO ) to spot incoming enemy formations at a distance and send a " Bat Team " section consisting of a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber and two F6F Hellcat fighters toward the Japanese intruders . Although improvements in new types of aviation radar were soon forthcoming from the engineers at MIT and the electronic industry , the available primitive radars in 1943 were very bulky , attributed to the fact that they contained vacuum tube technology . Radars were carried only on the roomy TBF Avengers , but not on the smaller and faster Hellcats , so the radar - equipped TBF Avenger would lead the Hellcats into position behind the incoming bombers , close enough for the F6F pilots to spot visually the blue exhaust flames of the Japanese bombers . Finally , the Hellcats would close in and shoot down the torpedo - carrying bombers . One of the four ' Bat Team ' fighter pilots to conduct this experimental night fighter operations to intercept and destroy enemy bombers attacking Allied landing forces was then - LT Roy Marlin Voris , who after the war founded and commanded the Navy ' s flight demonstration squadron , the Blue Angels . On the night of November 26 , 1943 , the " Enterprise " introduced the experiment in the co - operative control of Avengers and Hellcats for night fighting , when the three - plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land - based bombers attacking Task Group TG 50 . 2 . O ' Hare volunteered to lead this mission to conduct the first - ever Navy nighttime fighter attack from an aircraft carrier to intercept a large force of enemy torpedo bombers . When the call came to man the fighters , Butch O ' Hare was eating . He grabbed up part of his supper in his fist and started running for the ready room . He was dressed in loose marine coveralls . The night fighter unit consisting of 1 VT and 2 VF was catapulted between 1758 and 1801 . The pilots for this flight were Butch O ' Hare and Ensign Warren Andrew " Andy " Skon of VF - 2 in F6Fs and the Squadron Commander of VT - 6 , LCDR John C . Phillips in a TBF1 - C . The crew of the TBF torpedo plane consisted of LTJG Hazen B . Rand , a radar specialist and Alvin Kernan , A . B . , AOM1 / c . The ' Black Panthers ' , as the night fighters were dubbed , took off before dusk and flew out into the incoming mass of Japanese planes . Confusion and complications endangered the success of the mission . The Hellcats first had trouble finding the Avenger , the FDO had difficulty guiding any of them on the targets . O ' Hare and Ensign W . Skon in their F6F Hellcats finally got into position behind the Avenger . Butch O ' Hare had been well aware of the deadly danger of friendly fire in this situation - he radioed to the Avenger Pilot of his section , " " Hey , Phil , turn those running lights on . I want to be sure it ' s a yellow devil I ' m drilling . " " O ' Hare was last seen at the 5 o ' clock position of the TBF . About that time , the turret gunner of the TBF , Alvin Kernan ( AOM1 / c ) noticed a Japanese G4M " Betty " bomber above and almost directly behind O ' Hare ' s 6 o ' clock position . Kernan opened fire with the TBF ' s . 50 - cal . machine gun in the dorsal turret and a Japanese gunner fired back . Butch O ' Hare ' s F6F Hellcat apparently was caught in a crossfire . Seconds later Butch ' s F6F slid out of formation to port , pushing slightly ahead at about 160 knots and then vanished in the dark . The Avenger pilot , Lieutenant Commander Phillips , called repeatedly to O ' Hare but received no reply . Ensign Skon responded : " " Mr . Phillips , this is Skon . I saw Mr . O ' Hare ' s lights go out and , at the same instant , he seemed to veer off and slant down into darkness . " " Phillips later asserted , as the Hellcat dropped out of view , it seemed to release something drop almost vertically at a speed too slow for anything but a parachute . Then something " whitish - gray " appeared below , perhaps the splash of the aircraft plunging into the sea . Lieutenant Commander Phillips reported the position ( ) to the ship . After dawn a three - plane search was made , but no trace of O ' Hare or his aircraft was found . On November 29 a PBY Catalina flying boat also conducted a search with no positive result , and O ' Hare was reported missing in action . For 54 years there was no definitive answer as to whether he had been brought down by friendly fire or the Japanese bomber ' s nose gunner . In 1997 the publication of the primary source for this article , " Fateful Rendezvous : The Life of Butch O ' Hare " , by Steve Ewing and John B . Lundstrom ( see References below ) shed new light . Ewing and Lundstrom very clearly state , more than once , that Japanese guns , and not Kernan ' s , killed Butch O ' Hare . In Chapter 16 , " What Happened to Butch , " the authors write , " Butch fell to his old familiar adversary , a Betty . Most likely he died from , or was immediately disabled by , a lucky shot from the forward observer crouched in the " rikko ' s " [ Betty ' s ] forward glassed - in nose . . . the nose gunner ' s 7 . 7mm slugs very likely penetrated Butch ' s cockpit from above on the port side and ahead of the F6F ' s armor plate . " In the Index , Ewing and Lundstrom flatly state that Kernan is " wrongly accused of shooting down Butch . " Why the confusion for so many years ? Ewing and Lundstrom point out that the " most influential and oft - cited " account of O ' Hare ' s last mission came in a 1962 history of the " Enterprise " by CDR Edward P . Stafford , which relied on action reports and recollections of former " Enterprise " crew , but did not contain interviews with any of the living participants . By contrast , Ewing and Lundstrom came to their conclusions on what happened to Butch after interviewing the still living survivors of O ’ Hare ’ s last mission : F6F pilot Skon , TBF radar officer Rand , and TBF gunner Kernan . Ewing and Lundstrom write , " Through Stafford and other accounts based largely on the action reports , Butch has wrongly become known as one of America ' s most famous " friendly fire " casualties . " On December 9 , official word arrived that O ' Hare was missing in action . His mother Selma left for San Diego to be with his wife Rita and his daughter Kathleen . LCDR Bob Jackson wrote Rita O ' Hare from the " Enterprise " to describe the extensive but unsuccessful search for her husband . In the letter , LCDR Jackson quoted RADM Arthur W . Radford saying of Butch O ' Hare that he " " never saw one individual so universally liked . " " The hardest thing O ' Hare ' s former wingman LT Alex Vraciu had to do was to talk to O ' Hare ' s wife Rita after returning stateside . On December 20 , 1943 , a Solemn Pontifical Mass of Requiem was offered for Butch O ' Hare at the St . Louis Cathedral . As O ' Hare went missing on November 26 , 1943 , and was declared dead a year later , his widow Rita received her husband ' s posthumous decorations , a Purple Heart and the Navy Cross on November 26 , 1944 . Honors and awards . Medal of Honor citation . For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in aerial combat , at grave risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty , as section leader and pilot of Fighting Squadron 3 on February 20 , 1942 . Having lost the assistance of his teammates , Lieutenant O ' Hare interposed his fighter between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin - engine heavy bombers . Without hesitation , alone and unaided , he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation , at close range in the face of intense combined machine gun and cannon fire . Despite this concentrated opposition , Lieutenant O ' Hare , by his gallant and courageous action , his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition , shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point . As a result of his gallant action — one of the most daring , if not the most daring , single action in the history of combat aviation — he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage . Navy Cross citation . The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross ( Posthumously ) to Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry " Butch " O ' Hare ( NSN : 0 - 78672 ) , United States Navy , for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier - based Navy Fighter Plane in Fighting Squadron TWO ( VF - 2 ) , attached to the U . S . S . ENTERPRISE ( CV - 6 ) , and deployed over Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands , in action against enemy Japanese forces on 26 November 1943 . When warnings were received of the approach of a large force of Japanese torpedo bombers , Lieutenant Commander O ' Hare volunteered to lead a fighter section of aircraft from his carrier , the first time such a mission had been attempted at night , in order to intercept the attackers . He fearlessly led his three - plane group into combat against a large formation of hostile aircraft and assisted in shooting down two Japanese airplanes and dispersed the remainder . Lieutenant Commander O ' Hare ' s outstanding courage , daring airmanship and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service . He gallantly gave his life for his country . USS O ' Hare . On January 27 , 1945 the United States Navy named a in his honor . The ship was launched June 22 , 1945 with his mother , Selma O ’ Hare , as the sponsor . O ' Hare was decommissioned on October 31 , 1973 and transferred on loan and then later sold to the Spanish Navy . In 1992 the Spanish Navy decommissioned and scrapped the ship . O ' Hare International Airport . As a tribute to Butch O ' Hare , on September 19 , 1949 , the Chicago - area Orchard Depot Airport was renamed O ' Hare International Airport . A training F4F Wildcat similar to the one flown by Butch O ' Hare was restored after recovery from Lake Michigan . It is currently on display in Terminal 2 of the O ' Hare International Airport . Other honors . The same month , O ' Hare ' s name was engraved on the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific " Wall of the Missing " in Honolulu . In March 1963 , President John F . Kennedy did a wreath - laying ceremony at O ' Hare Airport to honor Butch O ' Hare . The Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum is honoring O ' Hare with an F4F - 3A on display and a plaque dedicated by the USS " Yorktown " CV - 10 association , " " May Butch O ' Hare rest in peace . . . " "