William Hughes was born on Nov. 16 1923 in Liberal, MO and passed away on March 26, 1999. Following high school, Bill joined the Eighth Air Force and served in WWII as a M/Sgt flight engineer, in the European Theater, with the 489th Bomber Group. He was stationed in England and after several missions was captured in Holland on March 8, 1944 and interned in Stalags 4 & 6. He received the AVA (Oak Leaf Cluster), Purple Heart, WWII Victory, POW, Good Conduct, American Campaign, Presidential Unit Citation; same with one Battle Star. After being liberated on May 1945, he was discharged on October 23, 1945.

He was married to Louise Hughes for over 51 years and resided in KC. He had four daughters (Trish Hughes Troutz, Marjorie Hughes, Mary Beth Robeson and Christine Bossung) and a son (W. David Hughes), plus 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters.

Bill worked as a mechanic and foreman for large truck companies such as White Motor Co., Mack Truck Co. and TWA but retired on medical leave from TWA. He was the Past Commander of the Disabled American Veterans, the VFW Post #5606 and stayed active in the Heart of America Chapter of Ex-POWs.