Eighteen years ago a baby girl named Maria and her twin brother Nikolai were born to a woman being held in a Russian prison in Siberia. That baby and her brother stayed with their mother until her death two years later. The two children were then sent to an orphanage in Moscow where they would live for two years. The children were adopted by a U.S. couple from Long Island, New York, and were raised as any American child.

That child, Maria Daume, completed high school and enlisted in the U.S. Marines. She has just completed her boot camp at Parris Island and is now a Marine. She and three other female Marines were the first females who applied and were accepted for advanced infantry training. As you are reading this column Marine Private Daume is now on leave prior to starting her infantry training. Military.com gave the following quote: "I want to fight ISIS," Daume said. "Even though everybody in the military fights, I want to be a grunt. I think everything about it is for me, and I want to prove that females can do it."

Private Daume said she was bullied in high school for where she was born, but her apparent reaction was to become a fighter. The military-oriented website "Task and Purpose" said about Daume; "A lifelong competitor, she took to playing sports from basketball to soccer, softball, field hockey, and competed in mixed-martial arts, where the ability to take a hit and remain calm and controlled is crucial."

A quick look at photos on her Facebook page show a lovely young lady but the pictures also include a few pictures of Pvt. Daume in training giving a look at this tough Marine in action. She is meeting and exceeding the goals she set for herself.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.