Susan Ahn Cuddy, First Asian American Woman in U.S. Navy, Dies at 100

Pioneering Korean American servicewoman dedicated her life to family and country.



A pioneer has passed. Susan Ahn Cuddy, the first female gunnery officer in the United States Navy and the first Korean American to serve in U.S. Naval Intelligence, died Wednesday. She was 100 years old.

'Living Legend' Susan Ahn Cuddy Passes Away at 100

Born in Los Angeles in 1915, Cuddy was the eldest daughter of Korean independence activist Ahn Chang-ho and his wife Helen Ahn, who were among the earliest Korean immigrants to arrive in America.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Cuddy enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1942, becoming the first Asian American woman in the U.S. Navy. She served until 1946, reaching the rank of lieutenant, and went on to work for U.S. Navy Intelligence, the Library of Congress and the National Security Agency, before retiring in 1959.

According to her son Philip Cuddy, she passed away peacefully at her home in Northridge, California.

More on her pioneering life and career, from her bio:

Former Navy corpsman awarded Silver Star for valor

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan "Doc" Kong ran into heavy gunfire to save a wounded Marine.



File Under Badass... Last week, a former Navy hospital corpsman was awarded a Silver Star -- the military's third-highest award for valor -- for saving the life of a wounded Marine during an enemy ambush in Afghanistan.

Silver Star for Doc who fought to save Marine

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Kong was serving in the Sangin District of Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in 2011 when he and fellow service members came under attack by Taliban fighters. During the firefight, Marine Cpl. Michael Dawers was shot in the chest and fell to the ground.

According to the Silver Star citation, Kong was initially pinned down by enemy fire but "courageously rushed from his covered position, boldly charged into the kill zone dodging a hail of bullets, and reached the casualty," pulling him to safety and administering "life-saving aid."

U.S. Navy commander charged in bribery scheme

Asians behaving badly... military secrets-for-sex (and other perks) edition!

A high-profile U.S. Navy commander faces federal bribery charges for schemes involving hundreds millions of dollars in Navy contracts with payoffs that included prostitutes and luxury travel in exchange for classified information: High profile U.S. Navy commander charged in bribery case.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, Navy Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewic sent classified information, including ship movements, and used his position as deputy operations officer for the U.S. commander of the Seventh Fleet to help schedule visits of Navy ships to ports where a defense contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis, provided services including tugboats, security, transportation, supplies, fuel and waste removal.

In exchange, Francis provided Misiewicz with paid air travel, luxury hotel accomodations, prostitution services and other entertainment -- including five tickets to a Lady Gaga concert.