Inside Tammy Duckworth’s Harrowing Black Hawk Mission
Alex Wong/Getty Images
There’s nothing at all usual about Senator Tammy Duckworth from Illinois. In 2018, at 49 years old, she became the first woman to give birth while serving in the U.S. Senate. “About damn time,” she said (via BBC). But her story begins before that history-making occasion. In 2016, she became one of the first Asian-American women to serve in Congress. And as a double amputee, she also became the first disabled woman to be elected to Congress. And before that? Senator Duckworth, out of her “true belief” in the Constitution, spent 23 years serving in the U.S. Army (via The Washington Post).
Duckworth claimed her senate seat on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. As she wrote in a victory post, almost exactly 12 years before to the date, her Black Hawk helicopter had been struck down during a mission in Iraq (via Facebook). The tragedy — for which she received an Air Medal and a Purple Heart — would define her personal and political life. “Every day since … I try to be worthy of my crew and of the miraculous second chance they gave me,” wrote Duckworth. “I will go to work in the Senate looking to honor the sacrifice of all Americans who are facing challenges of their own … I believe in an America that doesn’t give up on anyone who hasn’t given up on themselves.”
Duckworth claimed her senate seat on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. As she wrote in a victory post, almost exactly 12 years before to the date, her Black Hawk helicopter had been struck down during a mission in Iraq (via Facebook). The tragedy — for which she received an Air Medal and a Purple Heart — would define her personal and political life. “Every day since … I try to be worthy of my crew and of the miraculous second chance they gave me,” wrote Duckworth. “I will go to work in the Senate looking to honor the sacrifice of all Americans who are facing challenges of their own … I believe in an America that doesn’t give up on anyone who hasn’t given up on themselves.”
Tammy Duckworth’s Black Hawk mission should have been routine
Even after 13 months in the hospital, Duckworth was ready to serve again. “This didn’t change who I am,” she told a congressional hearing. “I’m not about to let some guy who got lucky with an RPG decide how to live my life.”
