A Sailor's Story: Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy - WWII



Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy was born on January 16, 1915, in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Belmont High in 1933, where she played women's baseball, tennis, and field hockey. After graduation, she enrolled in Los Angeles City College, playing women's baseball for both the school and briefly for Bing Crosby's Croonettes. However, she withdrew from professional sports to continue playing on the collegiate level. Lieutenant Cuddy graduated from San Diego State University in the summer of 1942. 

Galvanized by the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy tried to enlist in the US Navy. Her first application to the WAVES was denied due to her Korean ethnicity. However, in the Fall of 1942, her second application was accepted, and she was sent to the US Naval Reserve Midshipmen School. She was the first woman of Asian descent to enlist in the US Navy.

 

Training on the Link Trainer Flight Simulators, Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy was assigned as an instructor in air combat tactics (including 50 caliber guns) and was the first woman gunnery officer in the US Navy.  Her career then took her to Naval Intelligence.   She left active military service in 1946 but remained with the National Security Agency until 1959.

After her work in intelligence, Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy focused on her family and helped manage the family-owned restaurant Moongate in Panorama City.  

In addition to managing the restaurant, Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy regularly spoke at US Navy functions and Korean American community events.

She died on June 24, 2015, and rests at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.


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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to the travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

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Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

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