WWII code breaker never sought recognition for service

SUMMERVILLE — Frances Josephson intended to take her World War II codebreaking secret to the grave.

And though she eventually broke the silence on her secret service to the country, Josephson was buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church cemetery Tuesday without receiving official recognition from the government.

Former Navy WAVES Lt. Frances Suddeth Josephson, 86, died from natural causes Saturday.

A friend, Capt. James Kenney of the Military Order of the World Wars, had requested national recognition for the code breakers but was unsuccessful.

Josephson told him that their most important contribution from 1942 to 1945 was breaking the Japanese code that allowed fighters to shoot down the plane carrying Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto. The admiral orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and his death raised American morale and saved troops' lives.

"She was my hero," Kenney said of Josephson.

Josephson had intended to become a doctor when the president of the school she was attending approached her in 1941 about a project of great importance to the war, Kenney said.

Then a senior at Goucher College in Maryland, she agreed to volunteer, eventually joining the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services).

"It changed her life forever," Kenney said.

She spent the weekends of her last college semester locked up in various college buildings with the curtains drawn tight, learning to see patterns in number sequences.

After graduating, she and other women became ensigns in the Navy and began deciphering German and Japanese codes.

A senior officer told her, "You can never talk about this or you will be shot." She took the order seriously.

While in the Navy she met her first husband, James "Jed" Suddeth. In 1952, they moved to Summerville, where she perfected her artwork and modeled for area stores. She remained active in veterans causes, including designing the Dorchester County Veterans Memorial on North Main Street.

Josephson's son James Jed Suddeth Jr., said his father died in 1960 never knowing about his mother's war contribution. Suddeth learned of his mother's secret only after reading about it in the newspaper. A national newspaper broke the story, and phones in Josephson's home began ringing off the hook.

"Someone spilled the beans. They told what they were never supposed to tell," Suddeth remembers his mother saying.

They really didn't get any recognition for it, said family friend Annabel Smith. But Suddeth said his mother never expected any.

The Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association did honor Josephson in Charleston in 2004.

"I had to trick her to get her there," Suddeth said.

During the evening, he thanked his mother in a brief speech.

"Mom, as a fellow naval officer, I salute you," he said. "As a mother I love you, and your grandchildren thank you. They are free today because of your work in the war."

Suddeth said his mother requested a written copy of his speech, but he never did give her one, so he slipped it into her coffin Tuesday.

He said his mother was part of the greatest generation.

"They won the war and when they came back, they built a great nation, and they never complained."

Reach Jessica Johnson at 745-5860 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.