Susan Ahn Cuddy

Early years

Susan Ahn Cuddy was born in 1915 in Los Angeles, California as the eldest daughter of Dosan Ahn Changho and Helen Lee. In 1902, her parents were the first Korean married couple to immigrate to the United States. The couple tirelessly worked to liberate their mother country from Japanese colonization; Ahn Chang Ho would eventually give his life to that movement in 1938, after succumbing to injuries from his constant imprisonment and torture by the Japanese.

As the family established themselves, the Ahn house became a haven for many Korean immigrants. The Young Korean Academy (Hung Sa Dan) made its headquarters at the Ahn′s residence as a resource center for many Korean immigrants. Many exiled Korean patriots, including Soh Jaipil, the first Korean American citizen, visited the Ahns while they lived at 106 North Figueroa during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The third child of five, and eldest daughter, Susan always said that her parents’ sacrifice and dedication to the Korean independence cause would play a defining role in her own identity and values.

During her youth Susan Ahn Cuddy worked for many of Dosan′s Independence organizations in Los Angeles. Susan attended Beaudry Elementary, Central Junior High and Belmont High School. She enjoyed and participated in sports such as baseball and field hockey. When Susan was at Los Angeles City College she was in charge of Women's Baseball as well as playing great at Second Base. She played for the Bing Crosby Croonerettes softball team. She had to stop playing to keep her amateur status to play college baseball. Susan graduated from San Diego State University in 1940 and joined the United States Navy in 1942 serving until 1946.

Career

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, she enlisted in the United States Armed Forces and enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She became the first Asian American woman in the Navy. This was at a time when anti-Asian sentiment in the country was high and women were still battling over sexism in the military. She told biographer John Cha, who wrote Willow Tree Shade: The Susan Ahn Cuddy Story, published in 2002, "A lot of people thought that women didn’t belong in the service. That made us try harder."

She felt joining the Navy was a way to help free Korea from the harsh Japanese colonial era rule and was eager to join the Navy to fight the Japanese. She worked her way up in the Navy, becoming a Navy LINK instructor in 1943, teaching aviators how to maneuver in a simulator cockpit and later becoming the first female aerial gunnery officer in the Navy- in other words, she trained fighter pilots how to shoot down enemy aircraft. In Willow Tree Shade, Cha described one incident where a white male pilot protested having to take directions from Susan because she was Asian and female. "Down here, you will shoot when I tell you to shoot!" she told the pilot. Susan Ahn Cuddy eventually became a Lieutenant and went on to work for US Navy Intelligence and the Library of Congress.

Then, she went to work for The National Security Agency in Washington DC. During the Cold War, she was in charge of a think tank of over 300 agents working in the Russia section. She received a Fellowship from the National Security Agency to study at the University of Southern California in 1956. Susan worked on many top secret projects for the Department of Defense and other agencies during her service with the United States government until 1959.

Even today, Mrs. Cuddy's accomplishments are considered remarkable and are, indeed, unparalleled.

Personal life

Even in her personal life, Susan proved a trailblazer. In April 1947 Susan married Chief Petty Officer Francis X. "Frank" Cuddy an Irish-American (deceased in 1994) and defied anti-miscegenation laws in place at that time and wed at the only place that would marry them: a Navy chapel in Washington, D.C. Francis also worked for Navy Intelligence and NSA. He was a code-breaker and helped the United States free Korea through his specialty, work since he spoke Japanese fluently. After his 33-year Navy career he worked for Kodak and GAF in film processing sales. He helped finance the Ahn family′s Moongate restaurant business. In 1959 the couple moved to Los Angeles to raise their children and also in hopes of winning her mother's acceptance of her mixed-race marriage.

The couple had two children, Philip "Flip" and Christine, and it was this new role as a mother that would cause Susan to eventually leave the intelligence community in 1959, so she could spend more time with her children. Returning to California, she helped her eldest brother Philip Ahn (the pioneering Asian American actor) and sister Soorah run their popular Chinese restaurant, Moongate, in Panorama City. After Philip died in 1978, Susan largely filled the role of Ahn family representative and worked hard to archive her legendary family’s records and managed the famous Phil Ahn′s Moongate Restaurant in Panorama City until 1990.

Later life

In 2003, the State Assembly of California of District 28 named Mrs. Cuddy the Woman of the Year in honor of her commitment to public service. On October 5, 2006 she received the American Courage Award from the Asian American Justice Center in Washington D.C.

Susan Ahn Cuddy, long considered a living legend for shattering barriers for women and Asian Americans in the U.S. Navy and later as a code-breaker for the National Security Agency, died at her home in Northridge, California. Even in her elder years, Susan remained active, speaking at Navy functions and Korean American community events, even campaigning for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. A breast cancer survivor, she also helped raise money for the cause. In recent years, she was honored with numerous accolades by government bodies and nonprofits. This past spring, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors designated a "Susan Ahn Cuddy Day." Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who introduced the declaration, was an especially devoted fan. "These were all firsts as an Asian American woman in a man’s world," he said of her accomplishments, during a March 10 ceremony. "Anti-Asian sentiment was brazenly prevalent, but that didn’t deter Susan Ahn Cuddy—she just knew what her mission was."

Death and legacy

Susan Ahn Cuddy died at her home in Northridge, Calif., on Wednesday afternoon, June 24, 2015, said her son, Philip "Flip" Cuddy. She was 100 years old. "She died very peacefully in her own bed," said Flip Cuddy. "Right up to the very end, she was clear-headed. But her body was just not going to support her mind."

Her life story is also the subject of the short biography Willow Tree Shade by John Cha.

Family

Publications