HERO
MAJOR TAMMY DUCKWORTH
DOUBLE AMPUTEE

My hero for the next two weeks is Tammy Duckworth, a helicopter pilot who lost the use of her two legs on Nov. 12, 2004 when a grenade exploded at her feet in Iraq. Duckworth believed that the war in Iraq was a mistake, but she had enlisted so she went to the war she opposed.

Duckworth ran for Congress in November, 2008, but lost to her Republican opponent. Recently, President Obama appointed her assistant secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs, but her appointment has been stalled by North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, who asked the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to hold up the vote. Recent reports, however, indicate that he will withdraw his objections and let the vote go forward.

To most potential candidates, losing an election and seeing a high profile appointment in jeopardy would be devastating. But not to Duckworth. She is a fighter who doesn’t give up easily. “I know this sounds really corny, but I've just got to be more,” Duckworth says. “I've got to be more than I was.”

Serving as assistant secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs seems the perfect fit for her. We can be sure that she will fight to see that other veterans who gave so much on the battlefield will not be forgotten by their countrymen.

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