Weedon E. Osborne was the first commissioned United States Naval Officer killed on land in World War I, and the only Medical Corps officer to die in battle in that war. Osborne was born in Chicago and graduated from the Northwestern University Dental School in 1915. He was appointed a lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 8 May 1917 and was transferred to the battleship U.S.S. Alabama in December. On 26 March 1918, he was transferred again, this time as a replacement dental officer for the Sixth Marine Regiment of the Marine Expeditionary Force in France. Lieutenant Osborne arrived at his regiment on 14 May 1918. When he learned that his dental equipment would be delayed in reaching him, he volunteered for service on a front line first aid party. He was serving in this capacity just a few weeks later when the Sixth Marines became involved in the Battle of Belleau Wood. During the advance on the town of Bouresches, 6 June 1918, Osborne threw himself zealously into the work of rescuing the wounded. In his attempt to carry Captain Donald Duncan to safety, an artillery shell killed both men. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism, his citation read, in part, “Having joined the regiment but a few days before its entry into the line and, being new to the service, he displayed a heroism worthy of its best traditions.” In addition, the Army awarded him a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross. Lieutenant Osborne is buried in Belleau-Aisne Cemetery, France. On 29 December 1919, destroyer U.S.S. Osborne was named in his honor. http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Visitor/Pride_of_Place/POP_Committee/MOH/Osborne.htm
Ship's Sponsors, Mrs. Harry Hutchins Fisher (Elizabeth Osborne) and Mrs. Channing C. Cox, in center front holding flowers, with their party at christening ceremonies held at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard, Squantum, Massachusetts, on 29 December 1919. Mrs. Fisher was sister of Lieutenant Weedon E. Osborne, USN (Dental Corps), in whose honor the ship was named.
