He was "Ben" to his shipmates. We served together in "B" Division onboard The USS Dubuque between 1987 and 1989, stationed at Sasebo, Japan. Ben was ten years my younger and ten times the BT.
The self is not something that one finds. It is something one creates.
—Thomas Szasz
It's normal for us not to be able to remember everyone we ever served with, when and where. For me, Ben Akers was easy to remember because he was hands down the hardest working Hole Snipe I ever knew. He was strong, tireless, resourceful, and not afraid to get dirty. He had a kind of quick, dry wit about him, as I recall. Even tempered, he spoke with a Western Pennsylvania dialect. Akers was the last person I ever heard use "yinz" in a sentence. He was a 4.0 Sailor. Squared away. His "gig line" was straight. Pick your metaphor, but Ben Akers was born to be a BT in The US Navy. I was honored to serve with him.
So, since the last time I saw Ben Akers, a lot has changed. The introduction of the World Wide Web was a biggie. I tried to search him out many years ago, but nothing came back. I remembered him again just yesterday, so I sent out another search. This time I got the sad news of his sudden passing back in 2018. Condolences to his widow, and his family. Jimmy Buffett wrote;
He's somewhere on the ocean now A place he oughta be With one hand on the starboard rail He's wavin' back at me
Fair Winds and Following Seas, Shipmate.
―Strasser, BT2
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