Pate, Randolph McCall.

Pate, Randolph McCall, born 11-02-1898 in Port Royal, South Carolina, to Thoroughgood McCall Pate (1870-1944) and his wife Annie Gatewood, born Cornick, Pate (1878-1921). Randolph had one sister, Marjorie Cornick Pate (1901-1902). Randolph enlisted service after a brief tour with the United States Army in 1918, he entered the Virginia Military Institute , graduating in June 1921, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve that September, and the following May accepted his commission in the Regular Marine Corps . In the spring of 1939, he became Assistant Chief of Staff for Supply, 1^st Marine Division, at New River, North Carolina, and while there was promoted to lieutenant colonel in January 1942. He began his World War II service in this capacity, participating in the planning and combat phases of the Guadalcanal campaign. He was promoted to colonel in December 1943, and later saw further service in the Pacific area. In World War II, General Holland M. Smith, awarded Pate the Legion of Merit for outstanding service as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Serving in that capacity from 11-09-1944 to 01-11-1945, Pate, then a colonel, was cited in particular for his performance of duty during amphibious operations on Palau, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In 1947, General Alexander A. Vandegrift

, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, presented him a Gold Star in lieu of his second Legion of Merit. The award was for exceptionally meritorious service at Guadalcanal as Assistant Chief of Staff for Supply of the 1^st Marine Division, nickname “The Old Breed”  during the United States’ first offensive against Japan.

During the course of the battle the division had 310 killed and 1.083 wounded. The battle for Guadalcanal would cost the division 650 killed in action, 1.278 wounded in action with a further 8.580 contracting malaria and 31 missing in action. The month of fighting against the 14^th  Division (Imperial Japanese Army) on Peleliu cost the 1^st Marine Division 1.252 dead and 5.274 wounded. Fighting on Okinawa cost the division 1.655 killed in action.Returning to the United States after the war, he was named Director of the Division of Reserve at Marine Corps Headquarters in January 1946. The following year he assumed duties as a member of the Navy General Board. In July 1948, he became Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, and two years later was named Director of the Marine Corps Educational Center. While stationed at Quantico in September 1949, he was promoted to Brigadier General. In July 1951, Pate was assigned to the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he served as Deputy Director of the Joint Staff for logistic Plans. He was named Director of the Marine Corps Reserves for a second time that November, and in August 1952 was promoted to Major General. The following month, he took command of the 2^nd Marine Division, nickname “The Silent Second”  at Camp Lejeune. Ordered to Korea in June 1953, he commanded the 1^st Marine Division until May 1954, earning him the Distinguished Service Medal and the Republic of Korea’s Order of Military Merit Taiquk. In July 1954, Pate was appointed Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of Staff, serving in that capacity with the rank of lieutenant general for eighteen months. On 01-01-1956, he was promoted to the rank of General and executed the oath of office as Commandant of the Marine Corps, succeeding General Lemuel Cornick Shepherd, he died very old age of 94, on 06-08-1990.

  Following four years as Commandant, he retired with the rank of General. At his retirement ceremonies, 31-12-1959, Pate was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for “exceptionally meritorious service to the Government of the United States in a duty of great responsibility as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 01-01-1956 to 31-12-1959.” Following a brief illness,

Death and burial ground of Pate, Randolph McCall.

Major General Robert Burneston Luckey, USMC (center), has the stars of his new rank pinned on by his wife, Mrs. Cary Luckey and General Randolph McCall Pate, Commandant of the Marine Corps, during informal ceremonies at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.

Lieutenant General Robert Burneston. He participated in the period of the division’s training at Guadalcanal, which now served as its base area. Luckey and his regiment sailed for Okinawa in April 1945 and saw heavy fighting during the battle on that island. He distinguished himself again and received the Legion of Merit with Combat “V” for his service Luckey settled in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, and died there on 09-09-1974, aged 69. He was married to the former Miss Cary Walker of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, daughter of Army Brigadier General Meriwether Lewis Walker and granddaughter of Brigadier General Asa B. Carey. They have a daughter, Laura, and two sons, Thomas and William.

Randolph Pate died at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, following a brief illness, 31-07-1961, age 63. Interred with full military honors with his wife Mary, born Bijting, who died age 76, on 31-12-1975, in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 3.

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