Valentines Day Massacre

St. Valentine’s Day
I have chosen to write about Valentine’s Day because it is one of my favorite holidays ever. It is very special to me because my birthday happens to fall two days later. As it being in the month of February it has long been a month of pure romance. The origin of this lover’s day goes back far as early as 270 A.D. and started with the clash of a priest and a mighty ruler. Valentines has always had a special place in my heart. I love all the hearts, flowers, chocolates, and the atmosphere of love surrounding you. Many couples, including me, are eager to celebrate their relationship and just our love of being together through our delicious entrees.
The true reason behind valentines is not what you would expect being what it is made up of today. They are not really sure why it is on the fourteenth of February, or if noble Valentine had anything to do with this day. As it happened centuries ago it is so hard to trace back with the accurate information. This massacre remains the largest gangster killing of the prohibition era. It made Al Capone a national celebrity as well as brought him the unwanted attention from the federal government.
During this era, many gangsters ruled many of the bigger cities, becoming rich from owning speakeasies, breweries, brothels, and gambling joints. These people would make up a city between their rivalries and then become local celebrities. Late 1920s, Chicago split between two gangs: one was led by Al Capone and the other led by George”Bugs” Moran. Capone and Moran wanted power, prestige, and all the money. Plus, for many years they tried to get each other back and kill each other. Early 1929, Al Capone was residing in Miami with his family when associates Jack McGurn visited him. McGurn, who had recently survived and almost got killed by orders by Moran. They tried to get away with the Moran gang entirely, Capone agreed to fund the assassination attempt and McGurn was placed in charge of putting it together. McGurn hired lookouts and set them up in apartments near the garage. He also had police uniforms stolen and a police car. He then sat up Moran on February 13th to be contacted by a hijacker. The hijacker was to tell Moran that he had a shipment of Old Log Cabin whiskey in which he was willing to sell at $57 per case. Moran agreed and told the hijacker that he would then meet up with him the next morning at the garage 10:30 a.m. sharp. On the next morning which happens to be February 14, 1929, the lookouts that were hired were looking out carefully as the Moran gang arrived at the garage. Lookouts recognized a man heading to the garage so he then signaled the gunmen. The gunmen climbed into the stolen police car. Four gunmen reach the garage and jumped out. Two of them were uniformed as police and they rushed into the building and Moran and his gang thought it was a routine police raid. Believing that they were really police they responded and done as they were told. They lined up, faced the wall, and allowed the gunmen to remove all their weapons. The gunmen then opened fire, killing fast and making it bloody as possible. As they done their job, they escorted their selves out and the two guys wearing uniforms made the witnesses look like they caught the victims by making the other two normal guys walk in front with their hands up in the air. Neighbors believed that everything was all well and dandy, many believed for weeks that the police was responsible, but they were fooled. Though the plan was planned around this one person being the main target, this man was running late, arriving at the scene when he quickly noticed a police car so he stayed his distance, unknowingly he practically saved his life. This massacre that took seven lives that St. Valentine’s Day in 1929 made newspaper headlines across the globe. The country was shocked on how this brutality took place of the killings. Police tried to desperately determine who was responsible. Al Capone was assumed by many that it was his entire fault, but he had no dealings as he was out of town with his blonde girlfriend from 9 p.m. on February 13th through 3 p.m. on February 14th. Fred Burke, the main killer, was arrested by police in March 1931, but was charged with the December 1929 murder of a police officer and sentenced to life in prison for that crime. Supposing this was one of the first major crimes that science of ballistics was used; however no one was ever tried or convicted for the murders of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The police never had enough information to get custody of Al Capone, the public knew he was guilty of this, but police just ignored the comments. In addition this made Al Capone a national celebrity; it brought Capone to the attention of the federal government. In conclusion, Valentine’s Day has completely changed my mind on my favorite holiday. While people back in the day celebrated with remising and having remarkable memorials on friends and family having lost, we celebrate with bright warm colors such as: red, and pink. We decorate our countertops with beautiful roses and baby’s breath combined to make the perfect gift for our most loved one. My most memorable experience was on my second Valentines with my now fiancée happens to be is when he took me out to eat and then surprised me with my open heart necklace, that I now wear every single day. Still having it going on 3 years, I still wear it often as usual and still receive the most comments and people becoming adored by it. It means so much to me that I now own the whole set of open hearts by Jane Seymore.