Recently, I watched the movie Gangster Squad while riding on a plane from London to Washington, D. C. As far as I could see, like most movies based upon historical characters, the film contained a blend of fact and fiction. How do I know? My father, Jim Vaus, worked for Mickey Cohen, the lead character in the movie and one-time boss of organized crime in Southern California. Was Mickey a violent gangster who ruthlessly killed people? Yes. Even Cohen himself admitted as much. Did Cohen run a widespread gambling and prostitution ring in Los Angeles in the late 1940s? Yes again. Was Cohen a womanizer and drug dealer? So far as my father was aware, the answer was “no” on both counts. My father told me more than once that Cohen refused to deal in drugs and Cohen was faithful to his wife, Lavonne. Apparently, even gangsters have a conscience. So what did my father do for Cohen? Though my father was not portrayed by name in the movie, some of his activities for Mickey were de...