A Bloody Valentine & The Chicago PD
The 81 Year Anniversary
Good Old Hometown Chicago – Chi-town, the Windy City. Chicago is known for many of its wonderful splendors including: Lake Michigan, Taste of Chicago, the Jazz and Gospel Fest, various night life venues, its theatrical and performing arts community, diverse ethnic eateries, its devotion to sports, the Water Tower, and of course the Hawk, its merciless wind.
As the third largest city in the nation, growing up in Chicago in the sixties was both a fright and a delight. There was never a dull moment in the summertime and summer vacation from school was always enjoyable...even to the poorest of families. High ritzy socialites had their entertainment, but the generosity of the City always made sure there were plenty of free events throughout the summer for the poorest of its citizens.
That having been said…all natives were aware of the frightening fact that their beloved Chi-town did not come without its own set of challenges. With an estimated $506 billion dollar income, came the devastation of greed, crime, and political corruption. An influx of displaced immigrants, all needing their own “place & space,” led to control issues and territorial competitions, resulting in the forming of ethnic gangs as a resolution. The fact that there wasn’t enough legalized labor to go around enhanced the temptation to solve the problem by obtaining monetary gain through criminal activity. And because of the easy money to be obtained by looking the other way, politicians and law enforcement officials were unable to resist the temptation to corrupt themselves.
Many ethnic gangs with a history in the Windy City such as the Mexicans, the Latinos, the African Americans, and the Europeans, all left their impression on the city which makes it difficult to think of Chicago without bringing to mind their awareness. Two such powerful gangs in the roaring twenties were that of the Italians and the Irish. For those who are familiar with Chi-city, you have an understanding that the city is divided into regions: the Loop (down-town Chicago,) the North Side (the ritzy area,) the South Side (the uppity area consisting of African Americans and middle class Whites,) the West Side (the poor various ethnic groups,) and the east being Lake Michigan. The South Side Italians controlled the illegalized venues who paid off corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials which were controlled by the North Side Irishmen.
Greed and dominance led to an all-out war in the 1920’s between these two ethnic groups. By the time Prohibition was in full swing, and after many crime lords had been gunned down, the last two standing were Alphonse “Al” Capone of the South Side Italians and George “Bugs” Moran of the North Side Irishmen. After Moran successfully eliminated most of Capone’s comrades, the Italian crime lord vowed to settle the score and once and for all control all of Chicago!
It is believed that with a plan to lure Moran and his fellow comrades into his warehouse “the SMC Carthage Co.” at 2122 N. Clark St. in Lincoln Park under the false pretense of buying bootleg liquor from the Purple Gang (Jewish Immigrants;) Capone intended to execute them all when he masterminded the Bloodiest Valentine ever! On the morning of Thursday February 14, 1929 five members of the North Side Gang: Peter Gusenberg, Frank Gusenberg, Albert Weinshank, Adam Heyer, James Clark, and two associates: Reinhardt Schwimmer and John May had all arrived at the warehouse by 10:30am. Moran believing to have spotted a police car never went in. Two paid police officers (or phony cops as some suspected) entered the warehouse and ordered the men to line up against the wall at which time two more men dressed as civilians entered in, and the four opened fire with Chi-town’s famous Chicago Typewriter…the Tommy Gun. It is believed that 200 rounds were fired of which 75 to 100 were believed to have hit its target. The two survivors of the massacre were "Highball," John May’s German shepherd and Frank Gusenberg who later died at the hospital three hours after the massacre.
George “Bugs” Moran succumbed to lung cancer and died 28 years later at age 65 on February 25, 1957 in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary; he died a pauper and was buried in the prison cemetery. Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone, who hid out in his Palm Island, Florida home during the massacre, was convicted of tax evasion by FBI agent Eliot Ness; he served an eleven year sentence. Plagued with the sexually transmitted disease syphilis, Capone’s health and mental state deteriorated. On January 21, 1947, he suffered an apoplectic stroke. He then contracted pneumonia on January 24th and suffered a fatal cardiac arrest the next day at age 48. Capone was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Chicago's far Southwest Side between the graves of his father, Gabriele, and brother, Frank. However, three years later, the remains of all three were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, west of Chicago.
For all of their greed, violence, and hatred, both the Polish-Irishman Moran and the Italiano Capone did prison time and died disease stricken deaths. And for all of Capone’s efforts in sending the North Side Gang a Bloody Valentine, crime lord Bugs Moran ended up escaping the atrocity and living ten years longer than Capone. Two-Hundred and fifty five Chicago detectives were all cleared in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, but the Bloody Rose left behind lived on to tell of the crime and corruption of the 3rd largest city in the nation, and to tarnish the reputation of Chi-town and further grieve the heart of her original indigenous people, the Potawatomis, for all ages to come.