In April 1917, Liliʻuokalani raised the American flag at Washington Place in honor of five Hawaiian sailors who had perished in the sinking of the SS "Aztec" by German U-boats. Her act was interpreted by many as her symbolic support of the United States. Subsequent historians have disputed the true meaning of her act; Neil Thomas Proto argued that "er gesture that day was intended to reflect the dignity with which she still held the right of her people to choose their own fate long after she was gone".