HomeMy WebLinkAboutRay Akins, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special fo The Eagle
Very few achieve the status of a legend among their
peers, but that is the situation with Ray Akins of the
Shiloh community in Robertson County. Robert Ray
Akins, or "Coach Akins" as he is known to hundreds of
former players, is such a legend in high school football
in the state of Texas.
Coach Akins coached Texas high school football for
38 years, amassing more than 300 career victories and
numerous championships, mostly at Gregory-Portland.
He coached several players who went on to play in
college, to include his son, Marty Akins, theAll-American
quarterback for Texas in the 1970s. Both Coach Akins
and his son Marty are enshrined in the Texas Sports Hall
of Fame. Until recently, they were the only father-son
combination enshrined there.
But there is the possibility that he may be part of
the only family to have three generations in the Texas
Sports Hall of Fame if his grandson, Drew Brees, the All-
Pro quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, is selected
for induction someday in the future.
Coach Akins' primary supporter through his stellar
coaching career was the girl he married 58 years ago,
the former Virginia Shultz of New Baden, Texas. It was
her family roots that brought them to Robertson County,
as members of her family had owned and operated the
General Store at New Baden for more than 100 years.
As she said when asked about their years in
coaching, "Ray's years in the Marine Corps made a
greater impression and impact on his life than anything.
After 38 years of coaching, the years and games tend
to flow together. But for Ray, being in the Marine Corps
was like yesterday".
Robert Ray Akins was born on a ranch seven miles
from Brady, Texas, as the oldest of five children.
"My dad was the straw boss of the east side of a
ranch that contained 31 sections of land. We had no
electricity, no running water and no indoor anything
except a cook stove. To get water, my dad and I would
drive the mules and wagon, which held the water
barrels, into the water tank and we would dip the water
into the barrels.
"I rode a horse to school, and if the weather got
very bad I would stay with my grandparents in Brady.
Sometimes it might be three days before I could get
home from school. We also broke horses for Mr. G.
Rollie White, a neighboring rancher, and I would buy
sodas at the drugstore in Brady run by Earl Rudder.
Growing up in Brady, the only college I ever heard of
was Texas A&M."
in elementary school in Brady beginning in 4th grade.
My junior year Pearl Harbor happened, so my senior
year I knew I was headed to the war. I wanted to go
as a Marine.
"There were about five seniors from the football
team that volunteered for the Marines in 1943. We went
to San Antonio, where there were about 75-100 guys
that wanted to get into the Marines as well. We took a
physical exam as well as a battery of tests. Out of that
group they picked 10 to be Marines. I and a friend from
Brady made it.
"I was ordered to report to San Diego. My Dad took
me to the train station. Before I boarded the train, my
Dad told me: 'Son, when you have a problem or a
question, all you need to do is ask yourself how would
my Mother and Dad answer: That will be your answer.'
He also said. `A lot of people are going to ask you to
have a drink with them. You'll have to figure out how
to handle that yourself.' I have used that advice for the
rest of my life and I've never taken a drink.
San Diego and Marine Corps basic training was an
eye-opening experience for young Ray Akins. "Our DI's,
Drill Instructors, were really mean rascals. They would
even get into fights with each other. It was like two bulls
fighting. They scared the heck out of me. I remember
having to do push-ups on the parade ground when they
told us to do a push-up and clap. Then they told us to
clap twice and then clap three times. Somehow we did
it without busting our noses.
"Those Dls put the fear of God into you. They told
us, 'Who told you you were going to live forever? If you
worry about being killed, you weren't going to be worth
a damn as a Marine.' By the end of basic, I didn't think I
was going to be able it make it back from the wac"
Training continued at a swift pace. "You knew the
training was serious when in bayonet training they had
us take off our bayonet covers. I still have scars from
that training. When they did that, you and the Marine
you were competing against realized this is for real and
we could get killed. We realized that where we were
going, it would be kill or be killed. Aone-way ticket."
Part of the Marines Akins trained with became part
of the 3rd Marine Division and would be sent to Iwo
Jima. Akins would become part of the 1st Marine
Division and would be sent for further training ~t and
near Guadalcanal for the final invasion of the War -
Okinawa.
For more information, to make a contribufron, or !f
you know a World War 11 Veteran whose story needs to
be told, contact the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial at
One thing that Ray found he liked and could do well www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at (979)
was play football. "Football was played competitively 260-7030.
Ray
Akins
Second of Three Parts
By Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
Okinawa would be the last and bloodiest battle of
World War II. The battle which began on April 1, 1945
- April Fools Day -would end 82 days later. The total
killed for the U.S. exceeded 12,000 soldiers and sailors,
with more than 36,000 wounded in action. The total of
Japanese soldiers killed was almost 60,000, and it is
estimated that 150,000 Japanese civilians were also
killed in the battle for Okinawa.
Ray Akins, as part of the 1st Marine Division, was in
the third wave to hit the beach in April 1945. His goal
was to live and reach the age of 20.
The 2nd Marine Division landed on the south end of
Okinawa as a diversionary tactic. When that happened,
the Japanese pulled their guns and equipment and
headed south to defend against the 2nd Marine
Division.
"We came in from the side along with the 6th Marine
Division," Akins recalled. "Our assignment was to cut
the island in half, which we did in three days. We headed
-north, securing the north end within two weeks, and
then turned back south. We were on the right flank of
the 10th Army, pushing south. WherTwe got into the line
that was headed south, I had never seen so many dead
people. You couldn't take three steps without bumping
into a body, either American or Japanese: `
"The Japanese had cleaned out the tombs in the
graveyards and had crawled in them. This gave them
a lot of protection while bringing fire on us. We had to
get them out, one tomb at a time. You knew when-you
went into a tomb that someone was going to get shot.
You just hoped it wasn't you.
"When it came my turn to go first to check out the
next tomb, I crawled up to it and saw a crack in the lid,
so I knew it had been opened. When I looked in, there
were three sets of eyes looking back at me. I fell to the
side and my buddy behind me went in firing, killing all
three Japanese in the tomb. We determined later that
the only reason 1 had not been shot between my eyes
was because they were out of ammo.
"On the push south, you would find Marines that the
Japanese had hung from a tree and skinned. It was
supposed to scare us, but it didn't. There weren't many
prisoners taken by either side at Okinawa. The Japanese
also attempted to herd civilians in front of them with
the soldiers behind but that didn't work either, so they
stopped that tactic. It was kill or be killed.
"The hardest thing to cope with was being the
outpost. We would go out in front of our lines at dusk
dark with about five or six men. When you went out you
knew you weren't going to come back until daylight.
If the Japanese didn't get you, then your own men
probably would if you tried to get back to your lines in
the dark instead of the next day.
"My first time as an outpost I was in a hole looking
over a ridge. It was about 2 a.m. and raining and I was
hoping nothing would happen. All of a sudden a guy
came over the ridge directly at me. I shot and the guy'
fell in the hole with me. A lot of the time the Japanese
would make a suicide attackjust like in Iraq today. I was
afraid that if I moved, it would set off an explosion.
"The guys with me didn't know if it was me or the
guy coming over the ridge that had been killed. Near
daylight, my best buddy Hugh Towel called out the
password to me and I answered back. They crawled
over and looked at the guy. In the first light, we saw it
was a fellow Marine. He apparently had been caught
behind the Japanese line and he was trying to get back
to our lines.
"Afterthat incident I was called backte headquarters
because my Colonel was concerned about me. I knew
I did what I was supposed to do, which he confirmed.
It still bothered me, but when I told him I would be all
right, he sent me back to the front. I'm not too good
with names, but that Marine's name is one I will never
forget. His name was Albert E. Herd and he was from
Oklahoma.
"My buddies liked for me to be with them on outpost
duty because I could hear a pin drop and could actually
smell the Japanese when they were near. They all
credited me with saving us all several times. The next
time for outpost duty we were in a hole on the front
side of a ridge. We knew the Japanese were there; we
just didn't know where. About 2 or 2:30 a.m. I smelled
something, a fish smell, and knew it was the Japanese.
With them being. that close, I couldn't say anything to
the guys or they would know exactly where we were. I
saw three heads bob up coming straight for us. I opened
up with my Tommy gun. People fell and flares went up.
We were worried that some of the Japanese could be
wounded and would lob grenades in on us. Tliey didn't
because they were all dead.
"Initially I was in the line fpr more than 27 days,
never changing clothing. We were finally sent behind
our lines to take showers and receive new clothing.
What we couldn't take off had to be cut off. Our skin
was coming off like skin that had been in a cast. They
had us stay in the salt water as long as possible and
then back into the line.
"When the battle for Okinawa finished, I h
battle for 81 days. When I hit the beach at the
I weighed 202 pounds. When it was over, I we
pounds.
Next week, the occupation of China.
For more information, to make a contribution, or if
you know a World War 11 Veteran whose story needs to
be told, contact fhe Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial of
www.veteransmemoriaLorg or Bill Youngkin at (979)
260-7030.
.Last of Three Parts
By Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
When the bomb was dropped and the war ended,
all six Marine divisions then located on Okinawa were
preparing for an assault on Formosa and mainland
Japan. They would now be utilized for occupation duty.
Ray Akins was one of only three Marines out of the
153 original members of his Special Weapons Company
who wasn't killed or wounded on Okinawa. Despite the
terrible losses suffered by his unit, all three survivors
would be sent to China for occupation .duty.
As Akins recalled: "We shipped over to China but
couldn't enter the harbor because of mines. They had
us offload on Chinese junks 2nd fishing boats to go
ashore. We headed inland on the smallest train that
ran on the smallest tracks I had ever seen, to Tensen,
China. Tensen had about 3 million people and when we
marched from the train to the Old British Compound, it
seemed that most everyone had turned out. They lined
both sides of the road cheering us as we passed.
"The war was over and everyone knew it, except for
a good many of the Japanese we were to deliver back
to Japan. As a result, we continued to have men killed
for several months after the war ended, and it wasn't
always the Japanese.
"The Russians were there also, but if they captured
any of the Japanese, they would never turn them over.
If the Japanese they captured had two good arms and
legs, they were headed to Siberia. We all knew then that
we were going to have trouble with the Russians.
"One day there were about four of us out in the
countryside checking out a school for Japanese that
we had been told were hiding there. We were inside the
school building when we heard the sounds of several
heels clicking down the hallway. We ducked into one of
the classrooms and hid.As they came down the hall they
looked in our room but didn't see us. We were looking
for the Japanese but those Japanese were looking for
us, and there were a lot more of them than us.
"Our main problem were the Chinese Communists
and the Russians that I believe were helping them.
When we captured the Japanese we would hold them
in a compound. We would take away their weapons and
then stack them in the middle of the compound or in a
secure area. On one occasion the Chinese Communists
attacked our compound, blowing a hole in the wall of
the compound in an attempt to take the Japanese and
hand them over to the Russians.
"When that happened, we knew we didn't have
enough Marines to defend the compound, so we re-
armed the Japanese. We ended up in a defensive
position around the compound with one Marine and
iwo Japanese, then a Marine and two more Japanese
circling the perimeter of the compound. It seemed
pretty strange to be shoulder to shoulder, defending our
position, with people that a few months before were
trying to kill us. When the Communists pulled out, the
Japanese handed their weapons back over without any
problems. -
"I decided then - and I haven't changed my mind
since -that we better be worried about China. They
had no appreciation for life, especially the communists.
While we were there they would gather up the children
and would kill the girl children. If we wanted, you could
buy one of the little girls for three dollars, which I did.
It may have saved her life. At least it did until we left
for home."
When Akins returned to the U.S. he was discharged
and enrolled at Southwest Texas State and played
football. "There were a lot of veterans just returning
from the war on the team. Those 18-year-old kids just
graduating from high school had no chance competing
against battle-hardened veterans. I enjoyed playing
football, but I enjoyed coaching even more.
"I started coaching in Rosebud, Texas, and finished
at Gregory-Portland. My first year at Gregory-Portland,
which was 1965, I started with 56 players and ended
the year with 13. But the next year, with less material
than most teams, we won 13 games in a row before
losing in the playoffs."
Coach Akins' teams at Gregory-Portland won 12
district championships in a row and never lost a home
game in 19 years. He finished his career in 1984 with
more than 300 victories.
The Marine Corps had a big influence on Coach
Akins' coaching style. "Football teaches you that it's not
how many times you get knocked down that counts. It's
how many times you get backup. It's the same way in
the Marines," he said.
In 2005 Coach Akins received the final and highest
football award in his career -the Gerald R. Ford All-
AmericanHigh School Coach Award at the All-American
Football Foundation.
,Ray Akins was one of the greatest football coaches in ''
Texas high school history.. He's not coaching any more,
but he will always be a Marine. As his best friend and
fellow Marine, Hugh Tow, said in his memoirs, "There
has never been a better friend or better United States '
Marine than Ray Akins."
Semper Fi, Coach.
Ray Akins' name can be found on the Brazos Valley
Veterans Memorial For more information, to make °!
a contribution, or if you know a World War II Veteran
whose story needs to be told, contact the BWM at
www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at (979) `!
260-7030.