Tammy Duckworth

Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army N...