First and foremost, he's a Bronze Star winner in the Vietnam War.

Second, Hughes is the host of a community-access TV show in Rocky Mount called Veteran's Corner.

Through it, he and his wife Robin, also an Army vet, have helped 400 fellow veterans receive long-overdue benefits.

Hughes thought he knew it all.

Then, about three years ago, Hughes got a call that his old school chum and fellow vet John Smith was dying from complications of exposure to Agent Orange. But here's the part that tore Hughes up: Smith was living on the streets.

"I did my best to help him, but it got me wondering how many more vets were living like that," said Hughes.

The statistics are shocking:

* The Department of Defense estimates there are more than 750,000 homeless vets in the United States, more than 7,000 in North Carolina -- and more than 750 in the three-county area surrounding Hughes' hometown of Rocky Mount.

* One in four homeless men in the United States is a military vet.

* More than 80 percent of the homeless vets served in Vietnam, just like Hughes.

In the course of his research, Hughes also learned about a solution proposed, but currently unfunded, by the federal government.

The idea is to build transitional shelters for vets, where they can get immediate help while navigating the lengthy process of getting long-term benefits.

"You can't apply for benefits if you don't have an address," said Hughes, his gravelly voice breaking with emotion. "The government doesn't recognize you unless you have an address."

Hughes and his wife, through their work, have learned it takes about two years for vets to get the assistance they deserve.

So the transitional housing shelters, a two-year program, make a lot of sense. There's just one problem.

"There are none from Florida to New York," Hughes said.

So Hughes, who lives paycheck to paycheck in a mobile home, is trying to build a shelter himself.

An architect friend drew up the plans, based on Hughes' sketches on a Biscuitville napkin. The proposed structure would be 15,450 square feet and house 24 vets at a time.

A lawyer friend drew up the paperwork to establish the Eastern NC Veteran's Development as a charity. The goal: $5 million to get the shelter built.

With a golf tournament and a chicken dinner, Hughes has raised $37,000 -- and a lot of awareness.

But he knows to make this project a reality, he needs the state's congressional delegation pushing for federal money.

He's not above holding congressmen's feet to the fire on his TV show. In fact, he'll do whatever it takes.

"Here it is Memorial Day in the richest country in the world," Hughes said. "It makes me sick that this is how our vets are living."

Hughes, who has struggled with alcohol and drugs in the past and still battles post-traumatic stress disorder, believes that his fellow vets deserve better than they are receiving.

They've earned it.

For more information about Hughes' mission to bring transitional housing for homeless vets to North Carolina, visit www.encvd.com.