 Cushing yakaiswa mubasa rinoshanda kaviri neUnited States Navy, kutanga muHondo Yenyika II kuwana nyeredzi nhanhatu dzehondo uye inotevera muHondo yeKorea kuwana dzimwe nyeredzi mbiri dzehondo. Munguva yeHondo Yenyika II, akapinda muhondo yeMariana nePalau Islands, Hondo yeAngaur., kurwisa kwePhilippines, 1944-45, Hondo yeLeyte Gulf, pre-invasion kurwisa Iwo Jima neOkinawa, Hondo yeOkinawa, uye pakupedzisira, kurwisa nzvimbo yeTokyo kusvika kumagumo ehondo. Kwemwedzi inoverengeka mushure mekusainwa kweJapan Instrument of Surrender, yakashanda sechikepe chekudzora chiteshi chengarava paSagami Wan kwemauto ekugara asati adzokera kumba. Munguva yehondo yeKorea, Cushing akashanda somurindi wendege uye akabatanidzwa mukuputika kweNorth Korea. Pashure pehondo, iye patrolled muTaiwan Strait, uye akashanyira zvengarava siyana kusimbisa National ukama President Dwight D. Eisenhower kuti Vanhu kuvanhu chirongwa. 