by Dr. Fred Broder
Victoria Gotti, daughter of deceased mob boss, John Gotti, has been on the talk show circuit vigorously promoting her new book which recounts her life growing up in a family where her dad was the “G-dFather”.
Hearing her unique memories prompts me to share two stories which are historically true.
Story #1:
Regardless of your age, you have probably heard of Al Capone the infamous mobster who ruled and terrorized Chicago in the 1920′s during the heyday of prohibition.
Capone had a lawyer, “Easy Eddie”, who was very skilled at keeping Capone out of jail. In spite of his questionable professional affiliations and activities, Eddie did have a real soft spot for his son who he showered with every material comfort imaginable. However the one thing Eddie knew that he could not pass on to his son was a “good name”. Eddie decided to try and make amends for the reputation he had created by agreeing to testify against Al Capone. This effort to try to redeem his name resulted in Eddie being gunned down on a dark Chicago street.
Story #2:
Lieutenant “Butch’ O’hare was a fighter pilot in the Pacific during WWII. During a mission with his squadron, he realized that somone had forgotten to fill his plane with enough fuel. He was told to return to his ship. As he approached the ship he saw a Japanese squadron en route to attack the defenseless American fleet. Butch heroically flew into the formation of Japanese planes expending all his ammunition while shooting down five planes.
Out of ammunition, he used his plane as a battering ram clipping and disabling most of the remaining enemy planes. Finally, with significant damage sustained, the Japanese planes turned and aborted their planned attact on the American fleet. This act of heroism occurred on February 20, 1942 and led to Butch becoming the first Naval aviator to receive the Congressional Medal Of Honor. A year later, at the age of 29, Butch was killed in aerial combat.
His home town of Chicago, to honor their fallen hero, named their airport, O’Hare International. You can find his statue and medal displayed between Terminals 1 and 2.
If you check the records, you will also find that Butch O”Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son.
The lessons to consider from these stories:
- Embrace those traits, habits and characteristics from your parents and family which, in your judgement, will enhance your life.
- Reject those that are counter productive.
- Never, accept a “victim” mentality that you are destined to be who you are because of those who raised you. There are too many examples of people whose life is a testimonial to their willingness to take responsibility for their own destiny.
- It’s worth noting that many parents can compartmentalize their public persona, which may or may not be admirable, from their personal love and support for their children.
IF IT’S GOING TO BE, THEN IT’S UP TO ME!!
Dr. Fred Broder is the author of Does Your Life Need A Laxative? — a great read that encourages us to purge, clean, and expel those things in our life that keep us from doing what we really need and want to do.
Broder appeared on The High Velocity Radio Show Monday 10/19, and his “Author’s Perspective” interview is coming soon to VideoDustJacket.com
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Great “Back Story” Fred !
I suppose many Chicago folks were aware of this (maybe not) — but I sure wasn’t.
More importantly . . . The Lessons to Consider from the story are “spot on” !!!