01 00:00:04,140 --> 00:00:06,700 During World War Two,some 350,000 02 00:00:06,700 --> 00:00:08,922 women served in the United States armed 03 00:00:08,922 --> 00:00:11,520 forces with over 86,000, or roughly 04 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,260 25%, serving in the Navy. While all of 05 00:00:15,260 --> 00:00:17,316 these women deserve to be remembered 06 00:00:17,370 --> 00:00:19,148 today,we are highlighting the 07 00:00:19,148 --> 00:00:21,510 remarkable story of Susan Ahn Cuddy, who 08 00:00:21,510 --> 00:00:23,510 was the first Asian American female 09 00:00:23,510 --> 00:00:25,510 officer in the U.S. Navy and the 10 00:00:25,510 --> 00:00:28,850 first female gunnery officer. Susan 11 00:00:28,850 --> 00:00:32,220 Ahn was born in 1915 to Ahn Chang Ho 12 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:34,600 And Helen Ahn who had arrived in 13 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,950 California in 19 oh two as some of the 14 00:00:36,950 --> 00:00:39,061 first Korean immigrants to the United 15 00:00:39,061 --> 00:00:41,510 States. Ahn’s parents were active in the 15 00:00:41,510 --> 00:00:43,621 Korean Independence movement, as Korea 16 00:00:43,621 --> 00:00:46,070 was occupied by Japan from 1910 through 17 00:00:46,070 --> 00:00:48,920 1945, with her father,one of the most 18 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,360 famous leaders, commonly known as Dosan. 19 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:54,880 Growing up in Los Angeles, Ahn 20 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,991 remembered her father telling her and 21 00:00:56,991 --> 00:00:59,330 her siblings to be very good American 22 00:00:59,330 --> 00:01:02,050 citizens and to never, never forget 23 00:01:02,060 --> 00:01:05,380 our Korean heritage, After graduating 24 00:01:05,380 --> 00:01:07,870 high school, Ahn went to Los Angeles City 25 00:01:07,870 --> 00:01:09,810 College and then San Diego State 26 00:01:09,810 --> 00:01:13,380 College. In 1938 her father, 27 00:01:13,380 --> 00:01:16,060 Dosan,died while in Japanese custody. 28 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:18,473 After Pearl Harbor, it was only 29 00:01:18,473 --> 00:01:20,584 logical that Ahn continue her father's 30 00:01:20,584 --> 00:01:22,418 struggle against the Japanese by 31 00:01:22,418 --> 00:01:24,860 joining the military. As she put it , 32 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,351 it was one way to serve your family's 33 00:01:27,351 --> 00:01:31,010 country and your own. After the WAVES, 34 00:01:31,020 --> 00:01:33,020 or Women Accepted for Volunteer 35 00:01:33,030 --> 00:01:35,086 Emergency Service was established in 36 00:01:35,086 --> 00:01:39,070 July 1942, Ahn went to join, but she 37 00:01:39,070 --> 00:01:42,080 was turned away for being Asian . As 38 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,670 she later told an interviewer: We were 39 00:01:44,670 --> 00:01:46,990 unusual in those days, and we looked 40 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,860 like the enemy. Undeterred, she 41 00:01:49,860 --> 00:01:52,250 reapplied and was accepted to the Navy 42 00:01:52,260 --> 00:01:55,560 in December 1942 as an enlisted WAVE. 43 00:01:56,740 --> 00:01:58,962 At that time, the Navy had just set up 44 00:01:58,962 --> 00:02:01,073 a centralized recruit training center 45 00:02:01,073 --> 00:02:03,129 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for enlisted 46 00:02:03,129 --> 00:02:05,740 WAVES. Ahn was part of the first group 47 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:07,796 of women to go through the five week 48 00:02:07,796 --> 00:02:10,018 training course there. Next, she went 49 00:02:10,018 --> 00:02:12,200 to link training and Atlanta, Georgia, 50 00:02:12,390 --> 00:02:14,501 to learn how to work with those early 51 00:02:14,501 --> 00:02:16,920 flight simulators. She graduated the 52 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,920 training as a petty officer, third 53 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:20,890 class specialist-T, or navy 54 00:02:20,890 --> 00:02:23,660 instructor, in March 1943. 55 00:02:24,740 --> 00:02:26,629 After being assigned to Naval Air 56 00:02:26,629 --> 00:02:28,730 Station, Miami, Ahn worked as a link 57 00:02:28,730 --> 00:02:31,810 operator training pilots, But while 58 00:02:31,810 --> 00:02:34,032 there she was temporarily reassigned to 59 00:02:34,032 --> 00:02:35,921 be an aerial gunnery instructor, 60 00:02:35,921 --> 00:02:38,032 helping the aircrews aim correctly at 61 00:02:38,032 --> 00:02:40,940 the moving targets , During this time, 62 00:02:40,940 --> 00:02:43,230 an officer also recommended Ahn for 63 00:02:43,230 --> 00:02:45,800 officer training. So by the late 64 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,580 summer of 1943 she headed to the U.S. 65 00:02:48,580 --> 00:02:50,524 Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at 66 00:02:50,524 --> 00:02:52,247 Smith College in Northampton, 67 00:02:52,247 --> 00:02:54,450 Massachusetts, for a 90-day officers 68 00:02:54,450 --> 00:02:57,210 training course. Once she finished 69 00:02:57,210 --> 00:02:59,432 this training, Ahn was commissioned as an 70 00:02:59,432 --> 00:03:01,432 officer in theWAVES in the fall of 71 00:03:01,432 --> 00:03:04,120 1943. Due to her prior experience as an 72 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,780 air gunnery instructor the Navy used Ahn 73 00:03:06,780 --> 00:03:08,613 as the first test case for women 74 00:03:08,613 --> 00:03:12,410 gunnery officers. By November 1943 she 75 00:03:12,410 --> 00:03:14,354 was going through the full gunnery 76 00:03:14,354 --> 00:03:16,466 school at Pensacola, getting trained 77 00:03:16,466 --> 00:03:18,540 on a variety of weapons. When she 78 00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:20,651 graduated the course, she became the 79 00:03:20,651 --> 00:03:22,651 first female gunnery officer in the 80 00:03:22,651 --> 00:03:25,140 Navy. Ensign Ahn was featured in 81 00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:28,340 newspapers for this feat. Ahn remembered. 82 00:03:28,350 --> 00:03:30,406 I'm very proud of the fact that I am 83 00:03:30,406 --> 00:03:32,910 able to say that I am Korean, I'm an 84 00:03:32,910 --> 00:03:34,799 American and I'm fighting for the 85 00:03:34,799 --> 00:03:38,730 country. In January 1944, Ahn was sent 86 00:03:38,730 --> 00:03:40,897 to Naval Air Station, Atlantic City, 87 00:03:41,140 --> 00:03:44,120 to train naval air crews. As the first 88 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,176 female gunnery officer in the Navy, 89 00:03:46,176 --> 00:03:48,398 she had to establish her authority from 90 00:03:48,398 --> 00:03:51,050 time to time. Once, as she recalled, 91 00:03:51,540 --> 00:03:53,651 there was a tall, good looking three 92 00:03:53,651 --> 00:03:55,880 stripe commander, and he said to me, 93 00:03:55,910 --> 00:03:58,132 I'm not shooting until I see the whites 94 00:03:58,132 --> 00:04:00,630 of those Japs eyes. And I said, I don't 95 00:04:00,630 --> 00:04:02,890 care what you do up there. Here you do 96 00:04:02,890 --> 00:04:06,300 what I tell you. Late in the war Ahn was 97 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:07,967 sent to Naval Intelligence in 98 00:04:07,967 --> 00:04:10,189 Washington, D.C. for her ability to 100 00:04:10,189 --> 00:04:12,570 speak Korean. However, for the first 101 00:04:12,570 --> 00:04:14,560 six months, she was not given any 102 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,120 meaningful task, due to racial fears and 103 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,960 mistrust. Eventually, she received 104 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,016 more important intelligence task and 105 00:04:22,016 --> 00:04:24,016 proved what she was able to offer. 106 00:04:24,340 --> 00:04:26,562 Sometime later, she became the liaison 107 00:04:26,562 --> 00:04:28,507 between Naval Intelligence and the 108 00:04:28,507 --> 00:04:30,673 Library of Congress until she left the 109 00:04:30,673 --> 00:04:33,980 Navy in 1946. After Ahn left the Navy , 110 00:04:33,990 --> 00:04:36,157 she worked as a civilian at what would 111 00:04:36,157 --> 00:04:38,323 later be called the National Security 112 00:04:38,323 --> 00:04:41,500 Agency. In April 1947 she married 113 00:04:41,500 --> 00:04:43,611 Chief Petty Officer Frank Cuddy, who 114 00:04:43,611 --> 00:04:45,667 also worked in the Naval cryptological 115 00:04:45,667 --> 00:04:48,160 field. The couple married at the 116 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,550 Navy Chapel in Washington, D.C. Due 117 00:04:51,550 --> 00:04:54,140 to Jim Crow era anti-miscegenation laws 118 00:04:54,140 --> 00:04:56,307 in Virginia and Maryland, they were not 119 00:04:56,307 --> 00:04:58,760 able to marry anywhere else. Their 120 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,649 marriage was unusual for the time 121 00:05:00,649 --> 00:05:02,871 period, and both families frowned upon 122 00:05:02,871 --> 00:05:04,982 the marriage at the beginning. Susan Ahn 123 00:05:04,982 --> 00:05:07,038 Cuddy worked with the NSA through 124 00:05:07,038 --> 00:05:09,149 the 19 fifties, running a think tank 125 00:05:09,149 --> 00:05:11,316 involved in top secret work related to 126 00:05:11,316 --> 00:05:13,730 the Soviet Union in Vietnam before she 127 00:05:13,730 --> 00:05:17,250 left the government in 1959. Active in 128 00:05:17,250 --> 00:05:19,417 the Korean American community for many 129 00:05:19,417 --> 00:05:22,260 decades, she passed away in 2015. 130 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,480 Susan Ahn Cuddy was a Trailblazer for 131 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,420 both women and Asian Americans. She 132 00:05:28,420 --> 00:05:30,587 was proud of her World War Two service 133 00:05:30,587 --> 00:05:33,510 in the WAVES. As she said later, I 134 00:05:33,510 --> 00:05:35,870 was American. I was very American, 135 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,860 raised to honor and love America. 136 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,660 There was actually no choice. I mean, 137 00:05:40,670 --> 00:05:43,420 that was it. The WAVES program showed 138 00:05:43,420 --> 00:05:45,476 the world what women were able to do 139 00:05:45,476 --> 00:05:47,531 outside of their housekeeping home. 140 00:05:48,340 --> 00:05:50,740 Undoubtedly, Susan Ahn Cuddy showed 141 00:05:50,740 --> 00:05:53,290 the Navy and the world what she could 142 00:05:53,290 --> 00:05:55,900 do and helped open future opportunities 143 00:05:55,900 --> 00:05:58,011 for both women and Asian Americans in 144 00:05:58,011 --> 00:05:58,560 the Navy.