Yates Stirling Jr.
Yates Stirling Jr. (April 30, 1872 – January 27, 1948) was a decorated and controversial rear admiral in the United States Navy whose 44-year career spanned from several years before the Spanish–American War to the mid-1930s. He was awarded the Navy Cross and French Legion of Honor for distinguished service during World War One. The elder son of Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, he was an outspoken advocate of American sea power as a strong deterrent to war and to protect and promote international commerce. During Stirling's naval career and following retirement, he was a frequent lecturer, newspaper columnist and author of numerous books and articles, including his memoirs, "Sea Duty: The Memoirs of a Fighting Admiral", published in 1939. Describing himself, Stirling wrote, "All my life I have been called a stormy petrel. I have never hesitated to use the pen to reveal what I considered should be brought to public attention, usually within the Navy, but often to a wider public. I seem to see some benefits that have come through those efforts. I have always believed that a naval man is disloyal to his country if he does not reveal acts that are doing harm to his service and show, if he can, how to remedy the fault. An efficient Navy cannot be run with 'yes men' only."
Yates Stirling Jr.
In September 1931 he was designated Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District, with additional duty as Commandant Naval Operating Base, Pearl Harbor, T.H. In 1932, the Massie Trial was conducted in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands were at the time part of the 14th Naval District, commanded by Stirling. Stirling's strong belief in the guilt of the five native Hawaiian men charged with rape and assault of a young naval officer's socially prominent wife was well-known, as was his displeasure at the result of a mistrial. "Our first inclination is to seize the brutes and string them up on the trees," he stated, later tempering his reaction with, "we must give the authorities a chance to carry out the law and not interfere." Later, he defended the actions of those involved in the events that led to the homicide of one of the accused, Joseph Kahahawai. Stirling's public statements concerning the Massie Affair would be impolitic and offensive by current social standards nearly a century later; however, they were mostly supported by the contemporary mainstream media, the Navy and Washington. Admiral William V. Pratt, Chief of Naval Operations, announced that, "American men will not stand for the violation of their women under any circumstances. For this crime they have taken the matter into their own hands repeatedly when they have felt that the law has failed to do justice." In a book review of Stirling's 1939 autobiography, the "Oakland Tribune" wrote, "One of the most difficult tasks of Admiral Stirling's career arose when, as Commandant in Hawaii, he had to handle the Massie tragedy. The chapter devoted to this case will make unpleasant reading for those who insist that polyracial Oriental Hawaii is fit candidate for Statehood." In the 1986 made-for-television movie about the trial, "Blood & Orchids", the name of the character representing Stirling was changed to Glenn Langdon.