Posted on: Sunday, January 8, 2006 Duckworth working to win By Will Hoover Advertiser Staff Writer
Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth works the phones at her campaign headquarters in Lombard, Ill. Since she announced her candidacy last month, the 1985 McKinley High School graduate has shown herself willing to work hard and speak her mind. Peter Thompson
Illinois Army National Guard Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth sat in a wheelchair at the paper-strewn kitchen table in her suburban Chicago home doing what she seems to do better than most mortals: focusing totally on the task at hand. She worked the phones for hours Wednesday as part of her effort to get herself elected to Congress — reaching out to dozens of mayors, union officials and everyday voters. Somehow, she's able to stay focused and find humor simultaneously. She has a knack for instantly putting people at ease with what some call her disability — the fact that she lost both her legs in Iraq 418 days before. Pausing between calls, Duckworth noted that her high-tech artificial legs were in the closet "charging up." What she called her "left stump" was propped up on the table. "That's my way of kicking back," she said with an infectious laugh. "I know, the politically correct term is residual limb. But that's just way too many syllables, and I figure it's mine. I can call it what I want." Duckworth's Iraq experience already is the stuff of American military lore.
On Nov. 12, 2004, her entire focus was on not losing consciousness while trying to safely land a Black Hawk helicopter. It had been blasted by a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded where Duckworth was seated. The maneuver was an impossible feat with two missing legs, a shattered right arm, and a multitude of other serious injuries.
Another pilot landed the helicopter. But Duckworth, not realizing how seriously she'd been hurt, kept her attention on the mission, passing out only when the Black Hawk was on the ground. Initially presumed dead, Duckworth remained unconscious for the next 10 days.
Her focus for the better part of 2005 included staying alive, undergoing intense therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and painstakingly learning to walk again on artificial legs. She is on record as saying she's determined to fly helicopters again.
Duckworth knows that political pundits are focused on her. As a Democratic candidate in a historically Republican district trying to win the House seat being vacated by retiring Republican icon Henry Hyde, her 6th District race is becoming a Democratic Party priority and a talking point among political heavyweights.
"Very rarely have I met a more impressive person than Tammy Duckworth," said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in an article the day before she announced her candidacy Dec. 18. "She just has the poise and exudes the type of character that I think would make her an astounding public servant." Duckworth is happy to point out that she and Hawai'i-raised Punahou graduate Obama have "a kama'aina connection." Both were born outside the country — Obama in Indonesia, Duckworth in Thailand — and graduated from high school in Honolulu — Punahou and McKinley, respectively.
"The big thing for me is that I'm a McKinley High grad," said Duckworth. "That gives you a lot of street creds. I wasn't a rich kid."
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