Randolph Zane

Randolph Talcott Zane (12 August 1887 – 24 October 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during World War I.

Related Topics:
12 August - 1887 - 24 October - 1918 - United States Marine Corps - World War I

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Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zane was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on 6 January 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 in battleship New Hampshire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 27 December 1909.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Washington, D.C. - Port Royal, South Carolina - Battleship - ''New Hampshire'' - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba

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Detached from New Hampshire in the summer of 1911, Zane next served ashore at the Naval Prison, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until December. Reporting to the Marine Barracks at Washington, D.C., on Christmas Day, 1911, Zane became post quartermaster on 1 January 1912 and held the post until 15 February 1913.

Related Topics:
Portsmouth, New Hampshire - Marine Barracks

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Zane then saw temporary expeditionary service in early 1913, sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, with Company "I," 2d Regiment, 2d Provisional Brigade of Marines, on board auxiliary cruiser Prairie and disembarked at Guantanamo Bay on 27 February. Reembarked in Prairie exactly three months later, Zane returned to Washington on 2 June.

Related Topics:
Norfolk, Virginia - ''Prairie''

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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 29 December 1914. He next served two more tours ashore?at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, and at Quantico, Virginia, before he embarked in the transport Henderson on 19 January 1918, bound for France.

Related Topics:
Puget Sound - Washington - Mare Island, California - ''South Dakota'' - ''West Virginia'' - San Diego, California - Pearl Harbor - Hawaii - Quantico, Virginia - ''Henderson'' - France

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By that point a major, Zane served his first tour of duty "over there" in the Bourmont, France, training area, with the 6th Marine Regiment. Then, he went to the front lines, southeast of the famous battlefield at Verdun, where he remained from mid-March to mid-May. After moving with his unit to Vitry-le-Francois and then to Gisors-Chaumont-en-Vexin, Zane and his companions received urgent orders sending them to the Chateau-Thierry sector.

Related Topics:
Bourmont - Verdun - Vitry-le-Francois - Gisors-Chaumont-en-Vexin - Chateau-Thierry

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Maj. 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," which occurred in 1814. Zane took part in the second phase of the assault, when the 2d and 3d Battalions, 6th Marines, entered the wood, and remained in action through the entire period of fighting.

Related Topics:
Belleau Wood - Robert D. Heinl - Bladensburg

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Zane was wounded and shell-shocked on 26 June. He never recovered from his injuries and died on 24 October 1918.

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USS Zane (DD-337) was named for him.

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