 Since the first women dawned in Marine Corps uniform, female Marines have enriched our Corps history and enhanced our combat capability. As opportunities to serve have increased, each subsequent generation of females in the Corps has stepped up to the challenge, paving new roads for future generations to follow. One of these Marines who made history and stepped up to a new challenge was Master Sergeant Barbara Dylinsky. After an 18-hour flight from the States, Dylinsky arrived in Vietnam March 18, 1967 at Bien Hoa Air Force Base about 30 miles from Saigon. When she stepped off the plane, she made history, becoming the first female Marine to serve in an active combat zone. Dylinsky originally enlisted in the Marines in 1951. She then worked as a senior drill instructor for female Marines at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, before volunteering to deploy in Vietnam in 1967. She volunteered at a time when she did not think that she was going to get it. When the Corps began to reflect an evolving society in the 1960s, it became clear than ever to Dylinsky that career opportunities were potentially opening up for women in the Corps, and that she even could attempt to request to be sent into a combat zone. When it was approved, she was shocked to say the least, but ultimately enthusiastic for this opportunity to serve alongside her fellow Marines. Dylinsky would go on to spend a year deployed in Vietnam as an administrative chief with the military assistant command in Vietnam. She was the first of 36 female Marines to serve in Vietnam between 1967 and 1973. She retired from the Marine Corps in 1974 and lived in Kent, Washington until she passed away of natural causes in 1995 at the age of 66. Dylinsky's decision to volunteer to deploy to a combat zone helped to open the doors for many female Marines at the time and in the future. Today, more than 13,000 female Marines serve on active duty and more than 5,000 the Marine Corps reserves. Fulfilling roles ranging from pilots, tank officers, and other combat roles. Semper Fidelis, Master Sergeant.