Mad Dog 06

The sound small arms fire strafing the Black Hawk helicopter was followed immediately by a blinding flash in the face of the co-pilot, who was in control of the aircraft at the time. Everything went into a blur as Capt Duckworth instinctively struggled to control the helicopter with control pedals and feet that were no longer there.

A rocket-propelled grenade had entered the helicopter at Capt. Duckworth’s feet and exited out the top of the aircraft. By some miracle, the rotors had not been damaged. The pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Dan Milberg set the helicopter on the ground while the crewmen, Staff Sgt. Chris Fierce and Spec. Kurt Hanneman put out fires on the helicopter and formed a defensive posture to fight off enemy ground troops.

Two other helicopters were called in to provide cover fire while the companion aircraft to the downed helicopter rescued Capt. Duckworth and her crew. Capt. Duckworth spent the next eight days in an Army emergency surgery hospital in Iraq. Her first memorable periods of consciousness were at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. with her husband at her side.

Capt. Duckworth did not know the extent of her injuries immediately. When she reached a point of consciousness, from which the doctors felt that she could understand what she was being told to her, her husband and one of the doctors told her of her condition. She was a double amputee and had lost some use of her right arm. She received the information stoically. Later, she said that whenever she started feeling down she needed only to look around to see another amputee in worse shape that she was.

Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born in Thailand to an American father and Thai-Chinese mother. She followed the footsteps of her father, a veteran of WWII and the Viet Nam War, when she joined the Army National Guard. Ms. Duckworth chose to become a helicopter pilot because it was one of very few combat roles available to women.

Though not a gifted child, Tammy Duckworth’s mother put strong emphasis on education and insisted on her daughter’s dedication to learning. She graduated from high school in Hawaii, earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Hawaii, her masters at George Washington University and was studying for a doctorate at Northern Illinois University when her National Guard unit was deployed.

Capt. Duckworth was promoted to major while at Walter Reed Hospital. With the extent of her injuries, no one would have faulted her for retiring to a rocking chair. However, upon release from the hospital, Maj. Duckworth was on her way home to Illinois and planning to return to the job that she had before her National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq.

It is common practice for disabled soldiers to be discharged from service. Maj. Duckworth, however, chose to remain in the National Guard. Though she can no longer fly helicopters, she believes and has proven that she still has much to offer by her service. She is a trained aviator and can still do classroom training, work on staff and be an inspiration to other injured veterans. Maj. Duckworth has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

 Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, met and came to know Ms. Duckworth during her time in Washington. He urged her into politics because he was impressed with her charisma and intelligence. A congressional seat was opening up in her district and Sen. Durbin took her under his wing. It took two runs at the office, however. The first run, for Illinois Congressional District 6 in 2006, was lost by a very narrow margin.  In 2012, Ms. Duckworth unseated the incumbent of District 8.

Tammy Duckworth was better known during her second congressional run for having served in two different roles in offices of veterans’ affairs. The first opportunity came immediately after she lost the first run for congress. She was offered a job to be the Director of Veterans’ Affairs for the state of Illinois. Then, when Barrack Obama was elected president, he offered Ms. Duckworth the high level role of Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, in the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs.Though, not to downplay Ms. Duckworth’s qualifications, it is also likely that some democratic gerrymandering helped her to win in the second run for congress.

In her first months of service in the House, Rep. Duckworth continues to carry the banner high for veterans’ benefits. During a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, she recently called out a government contractor for gaming the system to get veteran’s eligibility for federal contracts. Rep. Duckworth advocates hiring more veterans as doctors and nurses in VA medical facilities as they would better relate to the veterans’ needs.

Rep. Duckworth is, without a doubt, a soldier for the soldiers. It will be interesting to see what differences that her voice and freshman leadership can accomplish in congress in her first term. Rep. Duckworth is the first disabled female American veteran to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Her presence seems only to grow stronger and it is unlikely that she will lose momentum, as her background and determination drive her forward, in pursuit of veterans’ needs.

For a more comprehensive read about Rep. Tammy Duckworth, check this US News article written by Rick Newman. Iraq War Veteran TammyDuckworth, the Comeback Artist 

And Some Gave All is the story of a World War II soldier written by an author friend of mine. The soldier was her brother.