Algin James Hughes

West Point, 1943JAN

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Steve Hughes on July 15, 2020:

I wrote this to honor my father Al Hughes, as he was interred at West Point with his wife/my mom, joining hundreds of others in the Long Gray Line. My mother Elaine, his faithful and loving wife of 71 years, met on the Plain at West Point in 1940 as her parents brought her by train from Charleston, IL, to visit their son, Maurice (Carlos M. Talbott, class of Jan '43 and LTG, USAF Ret.) who was a cadet roommate of my Dads. My Dad recognized straight away that Elaine was not only very beautiful and charming, but a special woman who he was not going to let get away. It was during that visit, up at Ft. Putnam, that my Dad proposed and she accepted. Both my parents would marvel over the years at how lucky they were to have met the love of their lives on that day. After raising four kids and making probably 20 some moves, they had the privilege of living and working at West Point in the mid 60s. In their later years both if them made it clear that they wanted their final resting place to be at West Point. My father had an illustrious career as an US Army officer, being one of the "greatest generation" being assigned to fight in Pattons 3d Army to help defeat Hitlers 3d Reich. He took his artillery battery from Normandy, through the Battle of Metz, and on through Kassel, nearly reaching Chemnitz, until told to turn around as the war came to a close. As a regular officer, he stayed on in Germany and helped establish the Armys R&R center at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Even with the Armys post WW2 non-fraternization policy, he was gracious and generous where he could be with the defeated German populace and displaced persons here he lived and worked, always showing them respect as human beings and never trying to injure their pride as things got reestablished. He later went on to instruct new officers in the art of Artillery at Fort Sill and Ft. Leavenworth, as the Army prepared to fight in Korea, served in Army Intelligence in the Pentagon, was an Artillery Battalion and Group Commander, and a Regimental Commander and Deputy Commandant of Cadets at West Point. Growing up as an Army Brat, I knew my father to be a loving Dad, interested in sharing his love of drawing, railroads and history with me, my brother, and two sisters. He helped my brother and me build our first go-cart out of baby buggie wheels and salvaged wood from Cameron Station, VA. He had great imagination for do-it-yourself projects like constructing porch enclosures and back yards, or restoring old bicycles to new condition, probably also trying to save money since he was supporting a wife and four kids, and sending of them to college. He inspired in me a love of art, design, and music. As I became an adult and would encounter people he worked with, both while he was a Colonel, and later as a civilian, I would always hear people tell me what a special, decent, and inspirational man my father was. This was even the case after my mother passed and my father lived alone at an independent living facility in Colorado Springs. He would always make people feel important by asking and remembering where his neighbors and colleagues were from and about their families and careers. And he would never forget these details. As he approached the age of 99, he would often say how he yearned to be reunited with my Mom, who passed away five years earlier. As he began to fade, my sister Deb, brother Jim, and I were able to be by his side to comfort him until he finally passed. I miss him dearly, but am comforted that he is reunited now with my Mom and deceased older sister. And in our hearts, my siblings and I carry thoughts of him and his inspiration as we live our daily lives. Steve Hughes USMA Class of 1972

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