Captain Akin was the pilot of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. On September 12, 1951, on a night intruder mission, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Kumchon, South Korea. He was taken Prisoner of War and was presumed dead on February 28, 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.