LtCol (Dr.) Edward C. Register, USA

Class of 1905

Hometown: Rosehill, NC

Distinguished Alumnus Photo

  • A physician in the Army's Medical Corps, Register was one of only 4 US military doctors to answer President Wilson's urgent call for volunteers to assist in fighting an outbreak of Typhus in Poland, engaged in war with Russia after WWI.  45 Doctors had died of the disease in the previous two months.  Register volunteered for this duty even though he knew that he faced almost certain death, representing the highest ideals of his profession and The Citadel. 
  • Volunteering for service as a member of the Polish Relief Expedition in Tarnopol, Poland, Register assumed command of the medical services, organized a hospital, concealed from enemy forces, and ministered to the sick exposing himself to the disease from which he succumbed on January 3, 1920, just 15 days after his arrival.
  • Register was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal (posthumously), and the Polish Cross of the Valiant, presented personally by the Polish Army Commander-In-Chief.
  • A campus street is named in Lieutenant Colonel Register's honor.