Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth
U.S. Army Reserve, 1992-1996
Illinois Army National Guard, 1996-2014, Operation Iraqi Freedom

Title

Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth
U.S. Army Reserve, 1992-1996
Illinois Army National Guard, 1996-2014, Operation Iraqi Freedom

Description

Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, Purple Heart recipient and now United States Senator is an inspiration to many.  Formerly the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Duckworth served 23 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and Illinois Army National Guard before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2014. Among the first group of Army women to fly combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom, she lost both her legs and full use of her right arm when Iraqi insurgents shot down her helicopter. Speaking on women in the military she said, “We could not go to war as a nation – we could not defend America – without our women”. After her military service, she represented Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District in the House of Representatives for two terms, until she was elected to the Senate in 2016. Some of Duckworth’s firsts include being the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate and the first woman to give birth while in office.

Files

Tammy Duckworth-Microphone.jpg
Tammy Duckworth-Studio.jpg

Citation

“Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth
U.S. Army Reserve, 1992-1996
Illinois Army National Guard, 1996-2014, Operation Iraqi Freedom,” The Military Women's Memorial - Exhibits , accessed March 29, 2024, https://mwm.omeka.net/items/show/24.