Alumni Spotlight: Lannie Hughes
Veteran Lannie Hughes, M.D. (Medicine ’66), reflects on heroism and delivering medical care in a war zone
By Alex Lyda
Lannie Hughes, M.D., did not want to go to Vietnam, but in 1968, at the height of the war, he had no choice. After graduating from UT Southwestern, Dr. Hughes was obligated to serve under the Berry Plan, which allowed thousands of physicians to defer military service until they completed residency training.
“As opposed to some young men who volunteered to go to war, I became what was called an ‘obligated volunteer,’” Dr. Hughes said.
During the two years he spent stationed at Phan Rang Air Base, he tended to a group of Army engineers who suffered a range of mostly occupational injuries from big equipment as well as infectious diseases native to the tropical climate. He also volunteered to provide medical care to three surrounding villages, where he often treated South Vietnamese children amid a severe shortage of basic healthcare.
For his selfless service as a physician in a combat zone, Dr. Hughes’ battalion nominated him for a Bronze Star, which he said he received simply for doing his job.
“I was just discharging my duties as a physician, in the way that I was trained at UT Southwestern and Parkland,” Dr. Hughes said. “As a medical student, I took on a lot of responsibility at an early age. And the expectation of our peers at UT Southwestern was very high. So, in doing my job to the standard I was trained, I was awarded the medal.”
One of the most challenging aspects of wartime service for the young Dr. Hughes was being separated from his then new bride and now wife of more than 60 years, Linda Hughes, M.D. Both graduated from UT Austin before meeting as medical students at UT Southwestern, although they did not know each other as undergraduates.
“We think we may have been in organic chemistry class together, but there were 300 other students in that class, so we never crossed paths,” Dr. Hughes said.
With the Vietnam War still raging, Dr. Linda Hughes was half a world away in Dallas. Desperate to be near her new husband, she met with an Army general to see if she could be drafted to Vietnam, as well. The answer was no, she said.
After returning from Vietnam, Dr. Lannie Hughes specialized in gastroenterology and helped found the Dallas Diagnostic Association at Medical City Dallas, which had just opened in 1974. He later became a founding physician and medical director of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano before retiring.
Dr. Linda Hughes, a board-certified psychiatrist, was medical director of Charter Medical Center in Dallas and held the same role at several other psychiatric facilities in North Texas.
Despite his military service some 9,000 miles away, Drs. Lannie and Linda Hughes have never strayed far from their roots, always keeping UT Southwestern in their hearts.
In 2021, their gifts helped launch Founders Day, a tradition commemorating the anniversary of the institution’s creation. Founders Day has since become an opportunity for alumni to celebrate UT Southwestern’s achievements while funding new scholarships for UT Southwestern Medical School students.
“Without UT Southwestern being the focal point of our lives, we never would have met, and I likely would have served our country in a very different capacity,” Dr. Hughes said. “UT Southwestern and Parkland were the perfect preparation for my experience. Now, we want to create opportunities for future generations of UT Southwestern physicians.”