The Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation commemorates the 80th anniversary of Operation Tidal Wave, which took place on August 1, 1943
Media Advisory
August 1, 2023
Operation Tidal Wave, also known as the “Raid on Ploesti,” remains the largest aggregation of U.S. aircraft ever assembled for an air mission. 178 B-24 bombers flying at low altitudes from bases in Libya flew two thousand miles to Romania, crossing the Mediterranean to bomb refineries in and around Ploesti, Romania, which were a principal source of fuel to the Nazi war machine. Only eighty-eight planes, most of them damaged, returned to their bases in Libya.
Five Medals of Honor were awarded to mission participants, the most for any single air mission in U.S. history. Refugio High School graduate, 2nd Lt. Lloyd H. “Pete” Hughes Jr., piloted “Ole Kickapoo,” which was named by its crew the day before the mission. As part of a three-bomber formation commanded by Capt. Phil Ardery, near the rear of the attack formation on “Red Target,” Hughes’ aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire before he reached his target. Despite fuel gushing from the fuel tanks on the left side of his aircraft, Hughes held his plane in formation and descended into the inferno to deliver bombs on his designated target. His plane emerged from the blinding smoke and fire precisely in formation but with the aircraft on fire. Hughes pulled his bomber up and away from the two bombers in his flight to attempt a crash landing in the Prahova River valley south of Campina, Romania. The descent and final moments of Hughes’ heroic attempt to save his crew and Ole Kickapoo were documented by a photographer in Capt. Ardery’s bomber. Shortly before touching down, Hughes’ left wing failed, and the bomber crashed in a ball of fire. All ten crew members perished except for two, who survived and were captured and held as prisoners of war. Hughes’ Medal of Honor was presented to his widow posthumously in 1944. Hughes’ crew members were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest.
Refugio High School and Texas A&M Roots
Hughes, the first Texas Aggie to receive the Medal of Honor, was profiled in “Texas Aggie Medals of Honor” by Col. James Woodall. Hughes grew up in Refugio, Texas and was an exemplary student and outstanding athlete at Refugio High School, lettering in four sports and receiving honors for his performance as a Bobcat tight end in football. He was also a top student studying Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University before leaving school and enlisting in the Army Air Corps in January 1942. Hughes has been honored by Texas A&M University as a Distinguished Alumni, and a dormitory is named for him. Hughes’ medal is on display at the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center on the campus of Texas A&M University.
Even though Hughes remained in Refugio to finish high school and graduate, military records show his hometown as Corpus Christi, where his family resided when he enlisted. Hughes’ association with Refugio, Texas, was often overlooked in the post-war years, and he was never officially honored by his beloved hometown.
RHS Commemorates Fellow Graduate, Hughes
In the summer of 2020, a group of Refugio High School graduates formally organized an effort to commemorate and honor their fellow graduate, Hughes. The group organized as a committee of the Refugio ISD Education Foundation and by 2021 had successfully attained the group’s initial goal: to have the Texas Legislature designate U.S. 77 through Refugio County as the “Second Lieutenant Lloyd “Pete” Hughes Medal of Honor Memorial Highway.” In 2022, the volunteer group expanded and formed the Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation in 2023 to pursue the group’s primary goal: to install a memorial to Hughes on the campus of Refugio High School.
The memorial will consist of a large plaza with granite monuments and a bronze statue that depicts Hughes in his mission flight gear. The memorial will be located on the edge of the Refugio High School campus near southbound U.S. 77.
Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation Formed
The Founding Directors of the Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation are engaged in identifying a principal donor for the memorial, which will also commemorate Hughes’ crew members and Refugio’s other sons and daughters who died while serving their country. Austin lawyer and Founding Director Michael L. Slack, an RHS and A&M graduate, notes that “the Foundation is committed to building a memorial befitting a Medal of Honor recipient and his sacrifice that is enduring and remarkable by scope and design which exemplifies Hughes’ valor and the tenacity and integrity of Refugio High School graduates.”
Former Air Force fighter pilot, Southwest Airlines Captain, and Refugio High School and Texas A&M graduate Mark Richardson echoes the importance of honoring Hughes on Refugio soil. “This memorial will be grand and unique and attract visitors from all over the world to pay their respects to a 22-year-old hero who made the ultimate sacrifice. Hughes’ legacy is forever linked to his days as an outstanding student and athlete at Refugio High.”
Hughes’s nephew, Corpus Christi businessman, former Refugio resident and Foundation Director J.P. Jordan, reminds us, “They took Pete out of Refugio. They could never take the Refugio out of Pete.”
The Foundation will continue its close association with the Refugio ISD Education Foundation.
On the upcoming anniversary of Operation Tidal Wave, the Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation proudly commemorates Hughes’ heroism and the sacrifice of his crew and hundreds of his fellow airmen who were lost on that mission.
About the Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation
For further information about the Foundation, contact Mike Slack at 512-795-8686 or send an e-mail to info@petehughesfoundation.com. The Foundation will be distributing a media advisory upon the launch of the Foundation website, which is nearing public rollout.