GENERAL GEORGE M. STERNBERG, M.C., U.S.A. 395 



Spanish-American War he established general hospitals at Key 

 West, Savannah, Fort Thomas, Ky., Fort McPherson, Ga., Fort 

 Monroe, Va., Fort Myer, Washington Barracks, and San Fran- 

 cisco, and upon his recommendation two hospital ships were 

 purchased and equipped. All volunteer surgeons and contract 

 surgeons were appointed on his recommendation. He organized 

 the female nurse corps and the corps of dental surgeons in com- 

 pliance with acts of Congress passed on his recommendations At 

 the outbreak of the conflict he issued a circular calling attention 

 to the danger of typhoid in camps and organized the "typhoid 

 fever board," with Major Walter Reed as chairman. He or- 

 ganized the yellow fever commission of 1900, with the now 

 famous Major Reed and Drs. Carroll, Lazear, and Aramonte as 

 members. In 1901 he recommended that the medical department 

 be increased to correspond with the increase in the army made at 

 that time. 



Surgeon General Sternberg was retired from the army on 

 account of age in 1902. Up to his passing away he devoted his 

 energy, knowledge, and experience to the betterment of health in 

 the capital of our country. He died on November 3, 1915, at the 

 age of seventy-eight, and was buried with military honors becom- 

 ing his rank. On November 5, 1919, a simple but imposing monu- 

 ment in granite was unveiled at the Arlington National Cemetery, 

 to mark the place where Surgeon General Sternberg had been laid 

 at rest. Tributes were paid on this occasion by Major General 

 Merritt W. Ireland, Surgeon General of the United States Army, 

 Brigadier General Walter D. McCaw, Colonel Edward L. Mon- 

 son, and Colonel Frederick R. Russell. Dr. George M. Kober, 

 his life-long friend, pronounced the following eulogy on his life's 

 work: 



"Dr. Sternberg was not only a great scientist, he was also a philanthropist 

 in the fullest and most beautiful meaning of the word. A review of his scien- 

 tific work shows that he always sought the application of science to the ameli- 

 oration of human ills. His first important work in bacteriology was on disin- 

 fectants and disinfection as a means of preventing the so-called germ diseases; 

 a work of incalculable value to mankind. He never lost an opportunity to 

 impress on the profession and the public that the eradication of preventable 

 diseases is the highest aim of scientific medicine. 



"It was not possible for a man of Dr. Sternberg's humanitarian attributes 



