World War II United States Army Officer, US Congressman. War hero who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Bronze Star during World War II, and went on to be elected to the South Carolina state legislature and to become one of the youngest members to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at the age of 28. A 1941 Wofford College graduate served briefly as the editor of Orangeburg's The Times and Democrat, which his grandfather founded, before enlisting in the Army during World War II. Life magazine recognized him as the leader of "The Incredible Patrol," an operation behind German lines in which he led six soldiers on a patrol in two rubber dinghies across the Rhine River near Renkum, Netherlands, on October 29, 1944. Capturing 32 German soldiers and ferrying them back across the river earned Sims a Distinguished Service Cross. Hailed as a hero upon his return to South Carolina, he was elected to the South Carolina House for a single, two-year term in 1946. Then, a Democrat, he was elected the U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 2nd District, for a single term from 1949 to 1951, the youngest member of the House. He practiced law for 20 years and went into real estate and banking, serving as board chairman and chief executive officer of Orangeburg National Bank and of Community Bankshares.

His DSC Citation reads, "The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Infantry), [then First Lieutenant] Hugo Sheridan Sims, Jr. (ASN: 0-1314557), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as S-2 of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in action against enemy forces near Renkum, Holland, from 29 to 31 October 1944. Captain Sims voluntarily led a five-man patrol on a round-trip mission of twenty miles through enemy-occupied territory. The patrol having reached a main highway, he organized and set up an observation post for the daylight hours, radioing back information on enemy movements. By his willingness to face great risk, he established the identity of several units facing the airborne division across the river, located artillery targets, determined the disposition of the enemy strongpoints, identified the type of military traffic along the main enemy route of communications, and returned with thirty-two prisoners for detailed questioning."