Emmett Fenner Hughes

Private First Class Emmett Fenner Hughes Sr was killed in action on June 26, 1945 on Okinawa in World War II.  He was 21 years old.

Emmett Fenner Hughes was born on May 24, 1924 in Henderson, North Carolina, the son of of Robert Samuel Hughes and Lessie P. Abbott Hughes.  He attended Aycock school.  He was married to Sarah Ellen Rainey Hughes and had a son, Emmett Fenner Hughes Jr. who was 11 months old at the time of his father’s death.

PFC Hughes was inducted into the U.S. Army on September 22, 1944 and was deployed to the Pacific Theatre of War in February, 1945 serving with Company E, 32nd  Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

The initial invasion of Okinawa on  April 1, 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 82-day battle lasted until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the island as a staging point for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 miles away.

The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the U.S. Army 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th Infantry Divisions with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Marine Divisions, to seize the island.  After initial landings on April 1, 1945, the Tenth Army swept across the south-central part of the island with relative ease, capturing the Kadena and the Yomitan airbases within hours of the landing. In the following days, fighting proceeded against determined and fanatical Japanese resistance including suicide attacks and nightly infiltration attacks by Japanese soldiers hidden in the numerous caves on the island and aided by the mountainous terrain and monsoon rains.  The U.S. forces secured the island by June 22, 1945.  On  June 23, a mopping-up operation commenced, which concluded on June 30.  PFC Hughes was killed in action on June 26, 1945. The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War, causing more than twice the number of American casualties of both the Guadalcanal Campaign and Battle of Iwo Jima combined.

Private First Class Emmett Fenner Hughes Sr is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Henderson, North Carolina.

Last edited: 30 May 2026