Albert Wall Covington

Albert Wall Covington was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina on July 1, 1882. He enlisted in the US Army on August 5, 1898 as a Private and served as a Sergeant with Company K, 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment during the Spanish-American War. After the war he volunteered in the investigation of the Yellow Fever in Cuba and in October 1901 he received by injection with filtered blood serum, became sick with Yellow Fever and recovered. His was the initial proven case of a viral Malady in man. He was awarded the Walter Reed and Congressional Gold Medal for his participation. In December 1905 he married Rose Conrad. On September 10, 1908 he was assigned to the 23rd Coast Artillery Corps at Fort McKinley, Portland Maine during World War I. He was then transferred to Panama where he retired on August 23, 1926 and remained in Panama with his second wife, Cecilia F. Astor, and their children. He died at the Gorgas Army Hospital on April 20, 1934 and was buried at the Corozal American Cemetery.