Susan Ahn Cuddy

Susan Ahn 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.[4]

As the family established themselves, the Ahn house[5] became a haven for many Korean immigrants. The Young Korean Academy (Hung Sa Dan)[6] made its headquarters at the Ahns' 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 played a defining role in her own identity and values.[4]

During her youth, Ahn Cuddy worked for many of Dosan's independence organizations in Los Angeles. She attended Beaudry Elementary, Central Junior High and Belmont High School. She participated in sports such as baseball and field hockey. When she was at Los Angeles City College she was in charge of women's baseball, as well as playing second base. She played for the Bing Crosby's Croonerettes softball team. She had to stop playing to keep her amateur status to play college baseball.[7]

Ahn Cuddy graduated from San Diego State University in 1940 and joined the United States Navy in 1942, where she would serve until 1946.[8]

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Susan Ahn Cuddy tried to enlisted in the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service.[9] Her first attempt was not successful. On her second attempt, she was accepted and sent to 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 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 (2002), "A lot of people thought that women didn't belong in the service. That made us try harder."[10]

Ahn Cuddy felt that her enlistment in the US Navy allowed her to honor her father's legacy of fighting for Korean independence and to fight against the Japanese who, she viewed as "predators."[11] She worked her way up in the Navy, becoming an instructor on Link Trainer flight simulators in 1943, teaching aviators how to maneuver in a simulator cockpit. Later she became the first female aerial gunnery officer in the Navy. In this role, she instructed male recruits in air combat tactics, including the techniques of firing a .50-caliber machine gun in the air. [12]

Ahn Cuddy eventually became a Lieutenant and went on to work for US Navy Intelligence and the Library of Congress.[13] She worked 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.[14] She received a fellowship from the National Security Agency to study at the University of Southern California in 1956. Ahn Cuddy worked on many top secret projects for the Department of Defense and other agencies during her service with the United States government until 1959.[15]

Even today, Ahn Cuddy's accomplishments are considered remarkable and unparalleled.[8][16][17][18]

Susan Ahn Cuddy died at her home in Northridge, California, on June 24, 2015.[23] She was 100 years old.

Her life story is the subject of the short biography Willow Tree Shade by John Cha.[3][8][18]

• Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, 1878 – 1938 (father)
• Helen Lee (Yi Hye Ryon), 1884 – 1969 (mother)
• Philip Ahn, 1905 – 1978 (brother)
• Philson Ahn, 1912 – 2001 (brother)
• Soorah Ahn Buffum, 1917 - 2016 (sister)
• Ralph Ahn, born 1926 - 2022 (brother)
• Francis Xavier Cuddy, 1917 – 1998 (husband)
• Christine Ahn Cuddy, born 1950 (daughter)
• Philip Ahn Cuddy, born 1955 (son)

• "100 Years of Susan Ahn Cuddy". KoreAm. February 27, 2014.

• Cha, John (2005). Willow tree shade: the Susan Ahn Cuddy story. Korean American Heritage Foundation. p. 315. ISBN 978-89-953916-0-0. Retrieved 22 November 2009.

• Official website
• Susan Ahn Cuddy at Find a Grave