O’Hare
Who is the airport named for?
A replica of Butch O’Hare’s F4F-3 Grumman Wildcat in Terminal 2 at O’Hare International Airport
Chicago’s largest airport is named for Edward “Butch” O’Hare. He was a Naval aviator during World War II.
He’s most known for single-handing attacking nine bombers who were threatening his aircraft carrier. He shot down five of them. O’Hare was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was shot down by the Japanese in 1945. His body was never found.
A replica of his plane is displayed in Terminal 2 of O’Hare. O’Hare doesn’t appear to have had any geographic connection to Chicago (he was born in St. Louis).
Why I Looked It Up
A Jeopardy! clue was “This city has airports named for a famous World War II hero and a famous World War II battle.”
When I found out the answer was “What is Chicago?”, I realized the battle was Midway, but then I realized I knew nothing about the namesake of the airport I spend a ridiculous amount of time in.