At that time he was serving as an Army aviator and had been injured the previous autumn while distributing propaganda for war bonds when his plane crashed and he fell 800 feet , in large part winning on a sympathy vote and defeating Republican incumbent Robert Hall McCormick (not to be confused with Robert R. McCormick, who had been Republican alderman of the same ward from 1904 to 1906 ), who was further perceived to have a very poor attendance record at the Council,