The chances of Mike Cronin becoming a Chicago cop, let alone a legendary one, were slim.

A landmine left him temporarily blinded and blew his left foot off, along with part of his leg, in 1968 when he was a Marine fighting in Vietnam.

After returning to Chicago, Mr. Cronin got a job as a mechanic servicing CTA trains. He was eager to join the city police department, and tried, but couldn’t because of his injury.

Provided

In 1971, a close friend who was a cop assigned to Mayor Richard J. Daley’s security detail, told Daley about Mr. Cronin.

The next thing he knew, Mr. Cronin was called downtown and invited to apply again.

Once on the force, Mr. Cronin, a product of a North Side Irish Catholic working-class neighborhood, requested the busiest part of the city — the West Side. He became

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