A Lady — a Hero — Reflects on the End of the War in Iraq.
Dec 16th, 2011 | 4 responses
As our troops are finally coming home out of Iraq, and coming home for Christmas, many are penning down their thoughts — their emotions — welcoming our troops, thanking our troops, honoring them and reflecting on what this long, painful war has and has not accomplished. I am one of those and will publish my welcome, my thanks to our troops soon.
There is, however, a lady — a hero — who has just done exactly that.
While I — a retired military — watched and anguished over the Iraq War from afar, this lady lived it, fought it and sacrificed so much.
While she felt that “we never should have gone into Iraq in the first place,” she went to Iraq in 2004, not because she agreed with the war, but because she believed in doing her duty for her country.
The lady, Ladda Tammy Duckworth, served in Iraq as a helicopter pilot where she lost both her legs and damaged her right arm when only eight days and 11 days into her tour … (I’ll let Duckworth continue) “a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Blackhawk helicopter I was piloting over Baghdad. It exploded in my lap, vaporizing one leg, crushing the other and ripping apart my right arm.”
Please read the rest of the heroic and touching story of how this veteran suffered, fought, recovered and went on to serve her fellow veterans and her country in her recent article, “On the End of the War in Iraq.”
Duckworth who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for the sixth congressional district of Illinois; who served as Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and as the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs; who continues to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard; who is now running again for the re-drawn 8th congressional district in Illinois and who “knows what’s hard” concludes her wonderful essay as follows:
I gave eight months of my life and both my legs to a war I never wanted, and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat because I am proud to serve our country. When I think about what it takes to support our veterans and honor their sacrifices, nothing seems easier.
Please read the full article here.
4 Responses to “A Lady — a Hero — Reflects on the End of the War in Iraq.”
Ladda Tammy Duckworth and Lori Piestewa are heroes. The Chenney sisters are leeches on our country…
You are right, Rudi. I mentioned Lori Piestewa here: http://themoderatevoice.com/111859/some-progress-this-memorial-day/
Whoa, she’s a hotty!
Read her story years back. She gave alright and the kids did a good job of saving her. The amount that we sacrifice in service is completely random. I visited the veterans Hospital in San Francisco right after my EAS. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Even then I wasn’t allowed to see everything I wanted. I held deeps suspicions and still do regarding care for veterans.
Interesting your timing Dorian. My barber’s daughter is a 2nd Lt in the Army and has just been sent back to the reserves because of the cutbacks. Hopes for a career is pretty much gone for her now. Dear friends of mine for forty years have a son that graduated from the Air Force Academy. I think he’s in command of a mortuary unit and apparently unaffected by the current military cutbacks. Looks like a lot of people are leaving the military so I hope our illustrious congress will get off their butts and do something about the job situation.
I admire her so much– she’s the polar opposite of the chicken hawks who sent her there.