Colorado veteran to receive POW medal

An Air Force veteran who was one of 65 Americans taken hostage in Iran in 1979 is formally being awarded the Defense Department’s Prisoner of War Medal.

Retired Master Sgt. James O’Neal Hughes will be presented with the medal Wednesday by Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards, adjutant general of Colorado.

Hughes was a staff sergeant and an intelligence assistant for the Defense Intelligence Agency when Iranians seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. He was among 13 African-American or female hostages released after about two weeks because their captors said they were oppressed in the United States.

The Pentagon authorized the medal for Hughes in 2003 but it wasn’t delivered until 2011. The reason for the delay wasn’t clear.

Hughes also served in Vietnam and at other embassies.