Black Korean War vet Amelia Cunningham shares stories on time in Air Force, honoring fellow veterans
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As we celebrate Women's History Month, we want to introduce you to a Chicago native who has "been there and done that," as a woman who served our country in the Korean War.
In fact, at age 87, Amelia Cunningham has been on not just one, but two special trips to Washington, D.C., to honor veterans like her.
She's pretty busy, but we caught up with her at her home in the southwest suburbs just the other day.
Cunningham has a lot of stories to tell, and she loves telling them. Some of her favorite memories were made in 2019, on a trip to D.C., courtesy of Honor Flight Chicago.
It's part of a national group that honors veterans with free trips to the nation's capital.
"That Honor Flight, I just couldn't believe it, it was just fantastic," Cunningham said. "There were only three females on the trip, out of 100 [veterans], and I was one of the three."
In 2021, she was a special guest for an all-female event called Operation HerStory.
Both trips were unforgettable experiences.
"Seeing the changing of the guard (at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery), that was unbelievable, and we didn't know they have a female memorial. That was really something to see," Cunningham said.
She joined the Air Force in 1954, and said it gave her the opportunity to go from poverty on Chicago's West Side to other parts of the U.S. and beyond.
So what did her family say?
"'Go for it!' They were for it. A lot of people's families were against it, not mine," Cunningham said.
She spent three years in service as a morning report clerk, dispensing daily troop attendance data.
And she said, in all those years, she never had a problem because she's Black or because she's a woman.
"I know other people have stories different from mine, but I was very, very lucky," Cunningham said. "I got along with everyone, and everyone was very nice to me."
Amelia proudly wears her Air Force cap whenever she's out.
She loves showing it off when she talks to school groups about the military, and loves what the kids have to say.
"When I showed them a picture of myself, I said this is when I was young and beautiful," she said. "One little kid said … 'Amelia, you're still beautiful.' … 'You got it going, you go girl!'"
Cunningham went to college on the GI Bill, and she is a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, and has two masters degrees.
She's even starred in commercials, and met Great Britain's "queen mum," but those are other stories for another time.
