The Memorial

Hughes’ Recognition

Beginning with the Medal of Honor, which was presented to his wife Hazel in 1944, Pete Hughes has been recognized for his valor and heroism far and wide.  

Texas A&M University honored Hughes with the naming of a dormitory, Hughes Hall (1969) and by designating him a Distinguished Former Student (2012).  The Sanders Corps of Cadets Center features a display honoring Hughes and the six other former Aggie Cadets who received the Medal of Honor during WWII.

Hughes’s name is inscribed on the Medal of Honor Monument (1999) at the Texas State Cemetery.  Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio named a street after Hughes. 

Hughes has also been honored by the U.S. Air Force, which named a building at Williams Air Force Base (Arizona) Hughes Hall.  He is honored at the National Museum of the Might Eighth Air Force in Savannah, Georgia.

The Refugio Community Remembers

Despite this recognition, several former Refugio residents felt that Hughes’ accomplishments had not been appropriately honored by the community.  In close alliance with the Refugio ISD Education Foundation, they undertook a project to create a pilot committee of former Refugio High School students and former Refugio residents to determine how to best honor their fellow former student, Pete Hughes.  The committee declared two primary goals in July 2020:

To have U.S. 77 through Refugio County designated as the 2^nd Lt. Lloyd H. “Pete” Hughes Medal of Honor Memorial Highway

To design and install an appropriate memorial to Hughes on the Refugio High School campus where it would be visible to students, the community and visitors to Refugio.

During the 2021 Texas Legislative Session, the first goal was realized with the passage of a bill and resolution designating U.S. 77 through Refugio County as the 2^nd Lt. Lloyd H. “Pete” Hughes Medal of Honor Memorial Highway.  Signs were erected honoring Hughes in 2021 in the southbound direction at the Victoria-Refugio County line and in the northbound direction at the San Patricio-Refugio County line.  A sign presentation ceremony was held in Refugio at the future site of the memorial to honor Hughes and celebrate the naming of the highway for Hughes and the accomplishment of Goal 1.

The Memorial Project

The committee then shifted its focus to the memorial project, with the memorial site being officially designated on the Refugio High School campus at the corner of Vance Street and U.S. Highways 183 and 77.  The Refugio ISD Trustees have since voted to authorize the construction of the Hughes memorial on that site.

In 2023, the pilot committee determined that the undertaking and complexity of installing and maintaining a significant memorial warranted the creation of a non-profit organization.  The Pete Hughes Memorial Foundation was created in 2023.  The Foundation has prioritized fundraising and implementation of a website telling the Pete Hughes story and presenting the preliminary design of the memorial.