Anthony Boyce Akers

Ensign, U. S. Navy

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Commander in Chief: Serial 0944 (May 25, 1942)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Ensign Anthony B. Akers (NSN: 95640), United States Naval Reserve, for distinguished gallantry and intrepidity in the performance of duty as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat THIRTY-FIVE (PT-35), Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (MTB-3), on the occasion of the evacuation of President Manuel Quezon and party from Negros to Mindanao, Philippine islands. After his boat had struck a submerged life buoy and had started to sink, Ensign Akers maintained his protective patrol of the area, and in order to avoid disclosing the presence of the Squadron to the enemy destroyer known to be near the rendezvous, refrained from signaling for help until President Quezon had safely left the rendezvous.
His action on this occasion is in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

GENERAL ORDERS:
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Silver Star (Army Award) to Ensign Anthony B. Akers (NSN: 95640), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat THIRTY-FIVE (PT-35), Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (MTB-3), from 11 to 13 March 1942, in the Philippine Islands during a extraordinary action in a retrograde maneuver involving General Douglas MacArthur. With marked skill and coolness, Ensign Akers performed this mission of major strategic importance and of a most hazardous nature in the face of greatly superior enemy forces.
His conduct throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Military Forces of the United States.

Anthony B. Akers was an American attorney who served as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand from 1961 to 1963. Akers was born in Charlotte, Texas, near San Antonio, and attended the University of Texas, later graduating from Columbia Law School. Enlisting in the US Navy in 1940, he served in the Pacific as lieutenant commander of a PT boat, and was awarded a Silver Star and two Presidential citations. He was one of four officers who became the fictionalized heroes of William L. White's 1942 novel They Were Expendable, based on his Squadron 3's evacuation of General Douglas MacArthur and President Manuel Quezon from Corregidor to Australia. When John Ford filmed the story, Akers served as a technical advisor.
During the Korean War, Akers served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Under‐Secretary of the Air Force. He was director of the New York City office of the State Department of Commerce until 1958. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in the East Side 17th District three times: in 1954, 1956 and 1958.
Akers had first met John F. Kennedy in World War II; Akers ran the motor torpedo boat training squadron in Melville, Rhode Island where Kennedy trained. Kennedy campaigned for Akers in the latter's 1956 bid for Congress, and Akers served as executive chairman of the NY Citizens' Committee for Kennedy-Johnson in 1960. On winning the presidency, Kennedy appointed Akers Ambassador to New Zealand in June 1961, where he represented the United States until August 25, 1963. During his time in New Zealand, he tried to convince the ANZUS partner to send advisory personnel to the war in Vietnam. Akers returned to the USA intending to take over the job of Chief of Protocol from Angier Biddle Duke, working with Kennedy, but this was rendered moot by the President's assassination. Akers returned to practising law, but assisted with the 1968 Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy; he was present at the Ambassador Hotel when Kennedy was assassinated.
Akers died of a heart attack on April 1, 1976, in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, aged 61. His daughter was the actress Andra Akers. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_B._Akers