Akers, Frank.

at College Park, Maryland, in the first demonstration of the blind landing system intended for carrier use. On 11-09-1925, he received the Navy “Wings of Gold”. As a naval aviator, he was ordered to an aircraft squadron with the Battle Fleet. On September 11-09-1925, he received the Navy “Wings of Gold”. As a naval aviator, he was ordered to an aircraft squadron with the Battle Fleet. In 1928, he returned to Pensacola, Florida, as Instructor in Command of all Fighter Training. In 1931, Lieutenant Frank Akers, was a student of electronics at the Postgraduate School in Annapolis, Maryland. He continued studying at Harvard Graduate School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was here that he received his Master of Science Degree in Electronic Communications in 1933. As Flight Test Officer and Project Officer for Instrument Flying Development at the Naval Air Station in San Diego, California, Lieutenant Akers participated in an unusually hazardous experiment ony 30-07-1935. He was told that the nation’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, was somewhere at sea approximately 150 miles away. It was his job to locate the carrier and land aboard it using only instruments. The aircraft was fitted with a special hood preventing visual contact with the outside world. He chalked up another Navy “first” when the plane touched down on the carrier deck and caught the Number 4 arresting wire. This was a feat that earned him the distinguished Flying Cross. During 1942, he served as Navigator of the USS Hornet. He participated in the famed James “Jimmy” Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and the Battle of Midway,

  commander Admiral, Chester William Nimitz. In keeping with the unique and varied career of Rear Admiral Akers, he has commanded aircraft carrier divisions in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. He is the only aviator ever to have been assigned as Assistant Chief of Naval. He was always a fine gentlemen who respected others. Akers has received numerous decorations and awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal. On 11-01-1962, at the Hotel Del Coronade in San Diego, California, Rear Admiral Frank Akers was presented the Gray Eagle Trophy, honoring him as the Naval Aviator who has been flying longer than any other active duty. Frank Akers, old age 86, a retired Navy Rear Admiral, died of cancer on 23-03-1988, at George Washington University Hospital. Rear Admiral Akers’ son had an excellent quote about his father: “His life was built on the pursuit of excellence, coupled with a fierce determination to be the very best at anything, big or small. He was always a fine gentlemen who respected others.”

He is buried with his wife Bayliss, born House, who died age 82 in 1985, on Arlington Cemetery in Section 30 His stone reads: “Aviator, patriot, gentleman. Faithfully served his country from 1918 to 1963. Test pilot, instrument landing at sea, 1935. Carrier commander, World War II. The Navy’s Grey Eagle.” Close by the graves of the Lieutenant General, Commander of the 26^th Infantry Division, Willard Stewart Paul

, Major General, Chief Signal Officer, George Back, Major General, Commander 116^th and 29^th Division, D-Day, Charles Canham, Lieutenant General, Commanded the 5^th Marine Division, Thomas Bourke, Lieutenant General, Commander 2^nd Armoured Division, Ted Brooks, Admiral, Robert Ghormley and General, Deputy Chief of Staff, Bomb on Hiroshima, Thomas Handy, General Major, Commanding General 3^rd Armored Division , North-West Europe. Robert Walker Grow, The 3^rd Armored Division had 231 days of combat in World War II, with a total of 2.540 killed, 7.331 wounded, 95 missing, and 139 captured. Total battle and non-battle casualties came to 16.122. The 3^rd Armored Division lost more tanks in combat than any other U.S. division. Combat Command A lost more tanks than any other unit in the 3^rd Armored Division. On 31 March, the commander of the division, Major General Maurice Rose

  famed as one of few Commanding Generals to frequent the front lines during combat, rounded a corner in his jeep and found himself face to face with a German tank. As he withdrew his pistol to surrender, a young German tank commander, apparently misunderstanding Rose’s intentions, shot the General. Also buried here, 1* General Lieutenant, Commanding Officer Artillery, 11^th Airborne Division, Francis William Farrell  . The division had 2.431 casualties in 204 days of combat. Also a remembrance stone for the, age 44, missing in action Brigadier General, Charles Keerans the assistant commander of the 82^nd Airborne Division under General Matthew Bunker Ridgway.

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