Billy Dean Hughes Full Narrative

Billy Dean Hughes was born on March 2, 1920, in American Falls, Idaho, but moved to Spokane, Washington with his family in 1930. Hughes began his school years at Rogers High School but transferred to North Central, where he left his mark in several extracurricular activities. In addition to student government and other social organizations, Hughes played both football and baseball. His coach for baseball at North Central was Archie Buckley, another Fallen Cougar. Hughes graduated from North Central High in 1938, with a focus on mathematics. He began his post-secondary career at Washington State College in the fall of 1938 as a Speech major. He attended until 1941 when he left college to join the United States Army Air Corps. He married Ann Alethea Hughes prior to joining the military in December 1941. Their son, Thomas Bland Hughes, was born on May 24, 1942. Hughes was part of the first class of aviation cadets to enter the air corps replacement training center at Kelly Field, Texas following the United States' entrance into World War II. he received his commission as a Second Lieutenant and graduated as a bombardier. He was assigned to the 307th Bomber Group, Heavy, 424th Bomber Squadron. His squadron took part I the Wake Island operations from December 22, 1942, to December 24, 1942, then the Gilbert Islands from January 20, 1943, to roughly February 1, 1943, the Luganville Airfield in the New Hebrides from February 6, 1943, to about March 18, 1943. The 307th moved to Guadalcanal in February 1943, from where they launched attacks on fortified Japanese airfields and shipping installations throughout the Southwest Pacific. They were assigned to the 13th Air Force, and the group would serve in combat missions for the rest of the war. The only accountings of Hughes' death are surviving newspaper articles revealing he died somewhere in the South Pacific in a plane accident on April 29, 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Air Medal and the Oak Leaf Cluster. He is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery in The Philippines as well as on the WSU Veterans Memorial.