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With his Army background, La Rhett’s entering West Point, and devoting his life to a career of Army service, could have been predicted. His maternal grandfather was Colonel La Rhett L. Livingston of the Class of 1853, and his father was Sidney E. Stuart of the Class of 1880, who was commissioned in the Artillery, transferred to the Ordnance Department, and was killed in an accident at an Ordnance Arsenal in Delaware in 1889.</p>
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<em>La Rhett</em> was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1892, and entered with the Class of 1914 on 1 March 1910. He was a model cadet. He attained the rank of cadet lieutenant, was popular in the class, deeply religious, and was on the Advisory Committee, Young Men’s Christian Association. His write up in the 1914 HOWITZER contained the following: "He is a mighty efficient man. He takes pains to do his work well— he always does it well—and without any fuss about it. We feel sure that he will always be well liked wherever he goes.” His sincerity, popularity, and valuable service as a commissioned officer fully confirmed this estimate and prediction.</p>
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It was through me that he met the sweet and gentle young woman, whom you will remember as Dorothy Clark, and who was later to become his devoted wife.</p>
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Upon graduation, La Rhett was assigned to the Coast Artillery. His first station was Fort Monroe, where he spent one year. During this year, he married Dorothy on 28 April 1915.</p>
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With our entrance into World War I impending, La Rhett was assigned to Fort Andrews, Massachusetts, in September 1915, and served there for two years.</p>
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Of course, he realized that the primary and ultimate goal of military service is the defense of our country, and I know he hoped for combat duty overseas when the United States entered the war; but his hopes were not realized. He was assigned as instructor at West Point in 1917, and was on duty there for five years, in the Department of Chemistry. When this long tour ended, he attended the Coast Artillery School Battery Officers’ Course as a major.</p>
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His subsequent military education was complete. He graduated from the Coast Artillery School Advanced Course, the Command and General Staff School, and the Army War College. Between these school details were tours of duty with the Coast Artillery, in various ranks and command assignments: in the Canal Zone, at Fort Monroe, in the Philippines, and in San Francisco. He completed the course at the Army War College in 1938.</p>
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This was followed by a four-year tour of duty in the Operations Branch, GI, of the War Department General Staff, and he became a colonel in 1941. This detail enabled him to meet many officers of the same or higher rank and of all branches of the service. Fortunately, there are two retired generals in San Antonio who served with him in GI, War Department General Staff: Ike Spalding ’12 and Jim Walker ’20. When I talked with them, each spoke of what a conscientious, hard-working, and capable staff officer La Rhett was, and of his high traits of character.</p>
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Throughout his career in the Coast Artillery Corps, La Rhett had been interested in the Antiaircraft Artillery as an essential weapon to keep pace with the rapidly developing aerial bomber. He was fortunate in being allowed to specialize more in Antiaircraft Artillery than the average officer was able to. After completing his General Staff detail in 1942, he commanded the 6th Coast Artillery Regiment at Fort Winfield Scott, California, for two months, when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Thereafter, he organized, trained and commanded Antiaircraft Artillery units at Fort Sheridan; Camp Davis, North Carolina; Camp Callan, California; Camp Stewart, Georgia; Mitchel Field; and Camp Pickett, Virginia until October 1944, when his opportunity for scrvice in the Philippines finally came.</p>
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Here I must digress to say that several years earlier, Dorothy was stricken with a serious illness, requiring an operation and hospitalization. It appeared for several years that the operation had been successful. La Rhett went to Southeast Asia, and took part in the New Cuinea, Leyte, and Luzon campaigns. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for outstanding service from 10 December 1944 to 3 July 1945. He first served as Deputy Commander, 14th Antiaircraft Command, showing brilliant leadership in training units for combat operations, and later was Commanding General of the 102d Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade, establishing antiaircraft defenses in the Clark Field and Subic Bay areas, and supervising the installation of intricate and effective warning systems for the protection of troops and civilians. I have been briefly summarizing his Legion of Merit citation, which ended with "By his superior leadership, initiative and devotion to duty, General Stuart made a noteworthy contribution to the success achieved by the 14th Antiaircraft Command in the campaign to liberate the Philippine Islands.”</p>
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After returning from the Philippine Islands and reverting to the rank of colonel, La Rhett became Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of San Francisco in April 1946, and served as such for five years until his retirement as brigadier general on 31 July 1951. It was during this Reserve Officer Training Corps detail that Dorothy again became seriously ill.</p>
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For some time, they had planned to spend the retirement years in Encinitas, California, where one of their two sons lived; and prior to his retirement, La Rhett and Dorothy bought a three-acre place there, on which they built a beautiful and spacious home, designed by his son, Theodore, an architect. Their plans for the future were not to be fulfilled.</p>
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When La Rhett was retired on 31 July 1951, he and Dorothy moved into their home. She was then very ill, and in less than one week she had to be taken to the Camp Pendleton Hospital, where she died a few days later. She was laid to rest in the National Cemetery, Presidio of San Francisco.</p>
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After the loss of Dorothy, La Rhett continued to live in Encinitas alone. Gradually his health deteriorated, and, in 1956 he bought a trailer and moved to Hemet, California, which afforded a dryer climate, and was close to the March Air Force Base Hospital in Riverside. During the last two years before his death, he began to have numerous heart attacks, and had to use crutches because of poor circulation, so he moved into a rest home.</p>
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Finally, the end of the road came, due to a heart attack, and he was laid to rest beside Dorothy.</p>
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La Rhett’s service was an ornament to his profession. West Point and 1914 have reason to remember him and his service with pride, and his passing with regret.</p>
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He is survived by two sons: La Rhett L. Stuart Jr. and Theodore C. Stuart; a sister, Mrs. Ruth Stuart Wheeler, and a brother, Sidney E. Stuart; and three grandchildren.</p>
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<em>- J. H. C. ‘14</em></p>