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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.