Ken Hughey was born on May 22, 1932, in Chic, Tennessee. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on July 6, 1949, and completed basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, in September 1949. SSgt Hughey next attended Ground Radar Maintenance School at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, from September 1949 to July 1950, and then served as a Radar Maintenance Technician until entering the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force for pilot training on November 4, 1952. He was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona, on December 16, 1953, and he then attended jet instructor training, gunnery training, and F-86D Sabre training at Williams AFB and Luke AFB, Arizona, and at Tyndall AFB, Florida, between December 1953 and November 1954. His next assignment was as an Instructor Pilot with the 3626th and then 3627th Combat Crew Training Squadrons at Tyndall AFB from November 1954 to October 1955, followed by service as an Academic Instructor with the 3626th Combat Crew Training Group at Tyndall AFB from October 1955 to September 1956. Capt Hughey served as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3625th Maintenance and Supply Group at Tyndall AFB from October 1956 to August 1957, and then as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3550th Maintenance and Supply Group at Moody AFB, Georgia, from August 1957 to September 1959. He then received an assignment to complete his Bachelor's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, from September 1959 to August 1963, followed by service as a Planning Officer with Aerodynamic Configuration for the Space Re-Entry Program Division with the Space Systems Division at Los Angeles AFS, California, from September 1963 to March 1965. Major Hughey then deployed to Southeast Asia, where he served as an O-1 Bird Dog Forward Air Controller with the 6250th Support Squadron at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, from March to December 1965. He then served as an O-1 Forward Air Controller with the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, from December 1965 to March 1966, and during his first tour in Vietnam he flew 381 combat missions. While serving with the 20th TASS, he was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division as a FAC. His next assignment was as a Project Officer in Test Operations of the Space Experiments Division with the Space Systems Division at Los Angeles AFS from April to October 1966, when he returned to Southeast Asia as an F-4C Phantom II pilot. Major Hughey served as an F-4 pilot with the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron at DaNang AB, South Vietnam, from October 1966 until he was forced to eject from his stricken aircraft over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on July 6, 1967. After spending 2,069 days in captivity, Col Hughey was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at March AFB, California, and then received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to complete his Master's Degree in English Literature at California State College in Long Beach, California, from September 1973 to September 1974. His final assignment was as Los Angeles AFS, where he retired from the Air Force on March 1, 1979. Col Hughey flew an additional 183 combat missions during his second tour in Vietnam, including 106 missions over North Vietnam, for a total of 564 combat missions during the Vietnam War. After retiring from the Air Force, Ken worked for 15 years as a Senior Engineer and Project Manager at Hughes Aircraft Company, where he provided engineering and logistics support for launching government satellites. During this time, he began the study of law and passed the California Bar Exam before he graduated from law school. He then spent the next 13 years with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office as a Criminal Prosecutor. Ken retired from the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office in March 2011.

His 1st (of 2) Silver Star Citation reads:

For gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force while serving as an F-4C Aircraft Commander of the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, DaNang Air Base, Vietnam, PACIFIC Air Force, from 19 June 1967 to 22 June 1967. During this period, Major Hughey led three successful strikes against three heavily defended targets. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Major Hughey made repeated low level and highly accurate attacks against truck parks, marshalling areas and anti-aircraft gun positions. These courageous and aggressive attacks, in the face of intense and accurate defensive fire, resulted in the destruction of two anti-aircraft gun positions, multiple secondary explosions and the annihilation of two marshalling areas serving unfriendly forces in North Vietnam. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Major Hughey has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.