Kenneth D. Hughes
Kenneth D. Hughes is the principal author of Relentless Valor. A lifelong student of military history, his research and travels have taken him to major American battlefields, World War II sites in both the European and Pacific Theaters, and, for this work, to Vietnam.
In 2008, Hughes delivered the keynote address at the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. He served as a U.S. Army infantryman from 1967 to 1969, graduating from the Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate Course and attending Ranger School, where he was injured and hospitalized for three months at Tripler Army Medical Center.
Following his military service, Hughes completed a 36-year career in law enforcement, retiring as Chief of Police of a suburban Cincinnati department. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for Police, and the Police Executive Leadership College, and holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Hughes has led professional research teams to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Virginia Tech, studying leadership, instructional methodologies, and critical incident response.
His honors include the Ohio Attorney General’s Distinguished Law Enforcement Service Award, Ohio FBI National Academy Associates Officer of the Year, the Ohio Victims of Crime Silver Star Award, and Hamilton County Police Association Officer of the Year.
He is married to Charlene and is the father of four children, grandfather to ten, and great-grandfather to one.
In 2008, Hughes delivered the keynote address at the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. He served as a U.S. Army infantryman from 1967 to 1969, graduating from the Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate Course and attending Ranger School, where he was injured and hospitalized for three months at Tripler Army Medical Center.
Following his military service, Hughes completed a 36-year career in law enforcement, retiring as Chief of Police of a suburban Cincinnati department. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for Police, and the Police Executive Leadership College, and holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Hughes has led professional research teams to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Virginia Tech, studying leadership, instructional methodologies, and critical incident response.
His honors include the Ohio Attorney General’s Distinguished Law Enforcement Service Award, Ohio FBI National Academy Associates Officer of the Year, the Ohio Victims of Crime Silver Star Award, and Hamilton County Police Association Officer of the Year.
He is married to Charlene and is the father of four children, grandfather to ten, and great-grandfather to one.
Relentless Valor
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Military/War
This story follows two young soldiers on opposing sides of the Vietnam War: Richard J. “Rick” Hast, an American infantryman, and Nguyen “Van” Li, a North Vietnamese conscript. Rick, a 21-year-old from Ohio, loses his college deferment and accepts the draft, inspired by his father’s wounding on Omaha Beach during World War II. Serving with Charlie Company, 4-31st Infantry, Rick hopes to survive, return home, and marry Jane. Seventeen-year-old Van enters the war to search for his missing brother. Though indifferent to communist ideology, he follows the Ho Chi Minh Trail and falls in love with Lu, a girl from his village. Van fights alongside childhood friends in the 6th Company, 60th Battalion, 2nd NVA Division, knowing the war will end only with victory or death. Both men converge in the Que Son Basin (“Death Valley”), where American and South Vietnamese forces struggle to protect the village of Hiep Duc. A brutal fourteen-day battle in August 1969 forms the centerpiece, as anti-war protests at the Woodstock festival of peace dominate headlines back home. Charlie Company is used as bait in deadly patrols, while Van’s unit conducts ambushes. Friends die, love offers brief refuge, and history unfolds with relentless accuracy. |
