Harahan, LA (WGNO) -- Jeannine Davidson was adored by her parents, but as an adopted child from South Korea, she struggled to be accepted in Montgomery, Louisiana, a small town near Alexandria.

School classmates teased her because they had never seen another Asian. Davidson remembers that even some of her relatives shunned her.

But her father, who was a Navy veteran, encouraged her to leave Louisiana and join the military.

"He told me the military is made up of people from all over America- all over the world- so it brings all those personalities and backgrounds together," said Davidson, "But then it breaks you down and builds you up as a team."

Her father said that signing up to serve, was "like my ticket out of a small town."

After a 21-year career in the Navy, Davidson can attest t

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