Randolph Zane
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| Randolph Talcott Zane | |
|---|---|
| August 12, 1887 - October 24, 1918 | |
| Place of birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Place of death | DOW from Belleau Wood |
| Allegiance | USMC |
| Years of service | 1909 - 1918 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion 6th Marines |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Belleau Wood |
| Awards | Navy Cross Distinguished Service Cross Purple Heart |
Randolph Talcott Zane (12 August 1887 – 24 October 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during World War I. He was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions while holding the town of Bouresches, France against an enemy force of superior numbers on the night of June 7-8, 1918.
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[edit] Military career
[edit] Early years
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zane was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on January 6, 1909 and, a month later, reported for duty to the Headquarters, United States Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. After instruction at the Marine Officers' School, Port Royal, South Carolina, Zane joined the Marine detachment on the battleship New Hampshire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on December 27, 1909.
Detached from New Hampshire in the summer 1911, Zane next served ashore at the Naval Prison, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until December. Reporting to the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., on Christmas Day 1911, Zane became post quartermaster on January 1, 1912 and held the post until 15 February 1913.
Zane then saw temporary expeditionary service in early 1913, sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, with Company "I," 2nd Regiment, 2nd Provisional Brigade of Marines, on board auxiliary cruiser Prairie and disembarked at Guantanamo Bay on February 27. Reembarked in Prairie exactly three months later, Zane returned to Washington on June 2.
After subsequent shore duty at the Marine Barracks at Puget Sound, Washington, and at Mare Island, California, and sea duty in the armored cruisers South Dakota and West Virginia, Zane joined the 4th Marine Regiment at San Diego, California, on December 29, 1914. He next served two more tours ashore — at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and at Quantico, Virginia, before he embarked in the transport Henderson on 19 January 1918, bound for France.
[edit] World War I
By that point a major, Zane began his first tour of duty in Europe at the Bourmont, France training area, with the 6th Marine Regiment. He then went to the front lines, southeast of the famous battlefield at Verdun, where he remained from mid-March to mid-May. In command of the 79th Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, he moved with his unit to Vitry-le-Francois and then to Gisors-Chaumont-en-Vexin, where Zane and his companions received urgent orders sending them to the Chateau-Thierry sector.
Major Zane participated in the fighting in the vicinity of Belleau Wood, when the untried Marines came up against the 461st Imperial German Infantry, a unit that Colonel Robert D. Heinl called "the largest single body of combat-seasoned regular troops which Marines had confronted since Bladensburg" (1814). Zane took part in the second phase of the assault, when the 2nd Battalion 6th Marines and 3rd Battalion 6th Marines entered the wood, and remained in action through the entire period of fighting.
Zane was wounded and shell shocked on 26 June 1918. He never recovered from his injuries and died on 24 October 1918. He is buried at the Somme American Military Cemetery, Bony, France.
The U.S. Navy's USS Zane (DD-337), a Clemson-class destroyer, was named in his honor.
[edit] References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- Zane, Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy.
[edit] External links
- Navy Cross citation, homeofheroes.com.
[edit] Further reading
- Schoonover, Frank E. "How 20 Marines Took Bouresches", in Château-Thierry: The 2nd Engineers at Belleau Wood. (URL accessed on May 21, 2006)
