A CHRISTMAS DAY baby who featured in the Press in 1998 has reached for the stars – and stripes – and is about to graduate from the prestigious United States Military Academy (USMA) West Point.

Proud mum Trish Magill said her son Joe, an avid Dunfermline Athletic fan, will then embark on a two-year flight training programme to qualify as an Apache helicopter pilot.

The family moved to the USA permanently in 2007, first to Boston and now in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trish wrote: "It's the heartwarming, nostalgic story of the Dunfermline Press's Christmas Day baby 1998 – 22 years later and how the twists and turns of life have changed the course of his journey.

"He is a sweet young lad and the fact he's flying the 'flag' for Dunfermline makes us so proud.

"The world is in such incredible pain at the moment but I think we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that, with lots of love, guidance and opportunity, when we reach for the stars, anything can be achieved."

Joe was the only West Fife baby born on December 25, 1998, and featured on the front page of the Press.

Trish remembered: "One of the reporters, Kevin McRoberts, visited baby Joseph and I at Forth Park Maternity on Boxing Day to interview and photograph us both – and he was an absolute pro!

"It was wonderful when he did a follow-up with us on Joseph's first birthday the following Christmas."

Joe, who was selected to be part of the USMA delegation at the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in December 2019, is set to make headlines again as he prepares to graduate on May 22.

Founded in 1802 in New York, West Point is rated as one of the best military academies in the world and candidates require a nomination, usually from a member of Congress, to get in while entrance also comes with a $400,000 price-tag.

Senator Thom Tillis selected him –"an incredible honour" – and Trish said he was "following in the footsteps of great American military heroes such as generals Custer, Lee, Grant and MacArthur".

After four years of studying, he'll receive his Bachelor of Science degree in Law and Legal Studies before going to flight school.

She said: "It's a lovely story of a baby boy from Dunfermline – from a long line of Crossford and Dunfermline ancestry, past and present, with grandparents and cousins and family all still living in Dunfermline – who grew up to realise his dreams and graduate, as far as I'm aware, as the only true Scot/American graduate from the prestigious USMA West Point."

Joe attended playgroup, nursery and primary school in Crossford before the family moved to the USA after Primary 3.

Dad Mark is a vice-president of an engineering company while Trish is an interior designer.

Joe's older brother, Jack, graduated from Princeton University and works in the financial district in Manhattan, and he has two younger brothers.

Josh is a third-year student at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; while James, the only one to be born in the USA, is 10.

All three of Joe's brothers are Celtic and Dunfermline Athletic fans – "in that order" – and the family make sure they maintain their Scottish traditions, including St Andrew's Day and Hogmanay.

Trish added: "I miss the Scottish weather – grey clouds and misty rain, everyone in the family says I'm barking mad!

"Collectively, we miss the sense of humour, a good 'chippy' supper and I've never mastered anything close to an Alari's fish batter – who could? – and we miss the people. Definitely the people."