Randolph M . Pate Randolph McCall Pate ( February 11 , 1898 – July 31 , 1961 ) was the twenty - first Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959 . Pate was a veteran of World War II , seeing action at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima and later served in Korea , and pre - war expeditionary service in Santo Domingo and China . Early years . Pate was born at Port Royal , South Carolina , on February 11 , 1898 . After a brief tour of enlisted service 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 . Military career . In addition to expeditionary duty in Santo Domingo in 1923 and 1924 and in China from 1927 to 1929 , Pate served at various post in the United States and Hawaii . He was promoted to first lieutenant in September 1926 , to captain in November 1934 , and to major in October 1938 . In the spring of 1939 , he became Assistant Chief of Staff for Supply , 1st Marine Division , at New River ( later Camp Lejeune ) , 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 , USMC ( Retired ) , 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 September 11 , 1944 to November 1 , 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 1st Marine Division during the United States ' first offensive against Japan . 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 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune . Ordered to Korea in June 1953 , he commanded the 1st Marine Division until May 1954 , earning him the Navy 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 January 1 , 1956 , he was promoted to the rank of general and executed the oath of office as Commandant of the Marine Corps , succeeding General Lemuel C . Shepherd . Following four years as Commandant , he retired with the rank of general . At his retirement ceremonies , December 31 , 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 January 1 , 1956 to December 31 , 1959 . " Post - military . Following a brief illness , Pate died at the U . S . Naval Hospital , Bethesda , Maryland , July 31 , 1961 . Funeral services were held on August 3 , 1961 in the Fort Myer Chapel , Arlington , Virginia , and he was interred with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery . His wife , Mary Elizabeth Bunting Pate ( July 4 , 1899 – December 31 , 1975 ) , whom he married on July 2 , 1926 is buried with him . Honors and awards . Pate ' s medals and decorations include : The citation for his Distinguished Service Medal states , in part :