“When I was bleeding to death
in my Black Hawk helicopter after I was shot down,
I didn’t care if the American troops risking their lives
to help save me were gay, straight, transgender,
black, white, or brown.
All that mattered was they didn’t leave me behind.”
~ Sen. Tammy Duckworth
Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, serving as the junior United States Senator for Illinois since 2017. Duckworth was the first Asian American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman to be elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand. An Iraq War veteran, Duckworth served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and suffered severe combat wounds, losing both of her legs and damaging her right arm.
