Private First Class Akins was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy at the Naktong Bulge in South Korea on 9 August 1950.

Akins was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.