Susan Ahn Cuddy

Susan Ahn Cuddy joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 at twenty-seven years old, becoming the first female gunnery officer. She served until 1946, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

After the war, going against the Anti-miscegenation laws of her time, Susan married Francis X. "Frank" Cuddy. She and Frank, an Irish-American, wed at a Navy chapel in Washington, D.C., the only place that would marry them.

—

Note: photograph is of Susan with her siblings, all of whom enlisted in the U.S. military. Taken in 1942.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Ahn_Cuddy / U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph / Wikimedia Commons