Edward Akki

Edward Akki enlisted into the US Coast Guard on the island of Oahu on December 1945, when he was 17 years old. The reason he joined the reserves was because two of his classmates joined with him, and since they had already experienced over 6 years of army life in a military academy, it seemed the next thing to do. He then enlisted to the United States Marine Corp, where he served 19 years of active duty. He was in the Korean War in 1953, and went to Vietnam in May of 1965 until his tour ended in October. When he was in the Korean War, he served on the DMZ which was the Korean Demilitarized Zone. It was a strip of land that ran across the Korean Peninsula which served as a buffer zone. It was on the 39th parallel, just a degree down from the center. His battalion size was a unit of 3 rifle companies. A couple of the things he remembers is how cold it was in Korea, and when he first heard the crack of a bullet he could hear someone say “Condition Charlie,” which meant get down.

Mr. Akki carried a Browning Automatic Rifle B.A.R. along with 12 magazines for it, which weighed around 2 pounds each. He had to carry everything on him, so his pack was about 40 pounds along with his helmet and an issued flak vest. His main duty was to go out in the late evening, when it was nearly dark, and walk up to the DMZ line to watch and see if anybody tried to cross over. When you were there, if you heard a crack sound, you knew someone was moving out there. He said this was a very scary experience.

Mr. Akki served in the 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division at Mount Fujiyama, Japan. One of the things he was assigned to do was to board the USS Tilmfare Armored Personnel assault ship. He was not told where he was going except that it was a significant thing. They left Japan and stopped in Borneu and India. The biggest threat he faced was always having to be on guard. He was then situated just behind the Army lines and was next to Freedom 8 Bridge, and several other bridges his regiment covered.

Mr. Akki has memories as a young man of Pearl Harbor. Every Sunday morning they would all go to the marketplace which was about two blocks away from the Aloha tower. One of these mornings,  he heard explosions and looked up to see a Japanese airplane fly right over them with flak trailing close behind. They all returned to their homes and hid under their beds. They were instructed to black out the windows in the homes, cracks, or anything that would give away their position. Every citizen was issued a gas mask, and trenches were dug outside so you were able to jump into them if there was another air attack.

Some of the things Mr. Akki remembers about the Vietnam War, was when he returned the first time, there wasn’t much response from people, but the second time he returned people were getting really mad.

Mr. Akki worked as an Air Force Marine repairman. He said, unfortunately he feels that his duties in the service were restricted due to him not being completely white. All in all he feels he was pretty lucky, because the only thing he lost in the war was his hearing.  Mr. Akki exited the Military at the rank of Gunnery Sergeant.