EAST CHINA SEA
Born in Bangkok, Thailand and raised in Manila, Philippines, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) Chief Engineering Officer (CHENG), Lt. Cmdr. Patricia R. Cunanan, came to the United States at 20 years old on a one-way flight with just $75 in her pocket, determined to seek a better and brighter future.
Before Cunanan ever joined the U.S. Navy, she studied civil engineering for three years in Manila and worked three jobs simultaneously for a year in Santa Maria, Calif. On Dec. 18, 1994 she enlisted as a Boiler Technician (BT), beginning a decades-long adventure, as a female pioneer in steam ship engineering plants and setting the ground work for Navy women in her field.