美国国家公共电台 NPR Their 'Tough' Mom Was Also The Navy's 1st Asian American Woman Officer

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We'll now hear from the StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, one of the thousands of conversations with veterans and their families that's recorded all across the country. Today, one seriously tough veteran Susan Ahn Cuddy, a Navy gunnery officer who served in World War II. Her children, Flip¹ and Christine Cuddy, came to StoryCorps to remember her.

FLIP CUDDY: Mom basically was a trained killer². She's a much different parent than...

CHRISTINE CUDDY: (Laughter).

F CUDDY: ...You know, someone who owned a bakery.

C CUDDY: As a mother, she was really unusual. She'd been through so much. Teaching guys how to shoot is like, what do you need to teach a kid? You know, go out and play.

F CUDDY: Yeah. She had, like, her own code. And if somebody was really an idiot, you know, she would say they were limited.

C CUDDY: That was one of her most heavy-duty criticisms.

F CUDDY: Yeah.

C CUDDY: She was tough.

F CUDDY: Tough. As soon as they bombed Pearl Harbor, she signed up to join the Navy. She was qualified³ to go to officer training school. But because she was Asian, they wouldn't accept her. Mom said she didn't care. She enlisted⁴ anyway.

C CUDDY: Right.

F CUDDY: And, you know, then they accepted her. You know, it was a white world. And if you wanted to do anything, you just had to forge ahead. So she was the very first woman gunnery officer teaching air combat tactics. These ace⁵ pilots would have to come back for refresher courses.

C CUDDY: Well, she loved to tell the stories about when she would talk to these guys. I mean, she was a 5-foot-1 little Asian woman.

F CUDDY: There was one incident when this guy comes in, and mom gives him the training. And, you know, she talks about when you're going to start shooting. So this guy goes, I'm not shooting until I see the whites of those Japs' eyes. She said I don't care what you do up there, but when you're down here with me, you do what I tell you to do.

C CUDDY: Yeah.

F CUDDY: How do you want people to remember mom?

C CUDDY: Obviously, you know, when you're growing up, it's just your mom. But I remember after she died reading her biography and just thinking, my God.

F CUDDY: I mean, how do you describe a person like that who's a leader and successful at everything she does?

C CUDDY: But I think I also would just say to mom, what an incredible life you've lived.

F CUDDY: I'm lucky I had a mom like that.

C CUDDY: Yeah, me too.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Christine and Flip Cuddy remembering their mother, Susan Ahn Cuddy, at StoryCorps in Los Angeles last year. After she served as a gunnery officer, Lieutenant⁶ Ahn Cuddy worked for Navy intelligence and the National Security Agency at the height of the Cold War, where she gathered intel on the Soviet⁷ government. She retired⁸ from public service to help run the family business, the legendary⁹ LA restaurant Phil Ahn's Moongate. She died in 2015 at the age of 100. This interview will be archived, along with hundreds of thousands of others, at the U.S. Library of Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

6 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。