Two Generations Of West Point Graduates: A Son Reflects On His And His Father’s Service

LTC(R) Bernard “Chuck” Hughes, Jr., USMA ’79, is the son of COL(R) Bernard Hughes, USMA ’53. Upon graduation, he commissioned as an Ordnance Officer, serving at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and in Korea. From 1995 to 1998, he taught in the Math Department at West Point. He currently works as a DA Civilian at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. In this interview, he weaves together his story and that of his father, one of three African-American graduates in the Class of ’53, and shares his unique perspective as the son of an African-American officer in the ’60s and ’70s.