Women in War: How Major Tammy Duckworth Lost Her Legs and What She Says Is Wrong with the War in Iraq
Tammy Duckworth with her husband Bryan Bowlsbey on the left and Senator Dick Durbin on the right.
SM: You ran for Congress pretty quickly after you were injured. What caused you to enter politics?
Tammy Duckworth: I became very disillusioned with the lack of understanding of our political leaders with what was important to our military and how our military men and women were being treated, how our veterans were being treated. I started contacting Senator Durbin, who’s the Senator of Illinois, about some of the problems we were having at Walter Reed with some of the injured troops.
I guess I contacted his office enough that he finally called me and said, “You know, if you have such great ideas and if you are this concerned then you should do something about it.” He basically said, “Put your money where your mouth is,” [laughs] and that’s when I realized, “Maybe I should do something.” But that is so true in any aspect in life. People complain about the laws in this country, yet so many of us refuse to get involved. How can you be dissatisfied if you don’t even try to make a difference?
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Your comments
| fun_in_the_sun | |
| I think we have to listen to what Tammy said about the troops not having freedom of speech to speak out against the war. One of my friends is in Iraq and he agrees that we just need to get out of there. We need to start listening to the soldiers themselves who have seen everything first hand, because only they can tell us the truth about the situation. | |
| asya | |
| what i appreciate most about this interview is that it's not sensationalist like many people out there. tammy does not simply bash on the administration but intellectually defines the problem and what we can do to alleviate the situation. | |
| LILA -- Los Angeles | |
| Tammy--thank you so much for shedding light on the military experience. While I respect the fact that the troops put their lives on the line for their country, with this war (that I don't agree with), it's been rather hard to not think of the troops as being "brainwashed." Now I feel like I can't really say that anymore thanks to your story and explanation of what it's like and what it means to be a U.S. soldier. Thank you. | |
| blackie | |
| Tammy, if you happen to read this, don't be so sure that you CAN'T wear those aforementioned summer dresses and wedge heels. I saw a girl on the news recently wearing SHORT SHORTS--damn near hot pants and SHE had lost a leg at 10. They're called LISA legs--just the thing for a night out on the town, when you don't want to be wheeled around or wear the "industrial" legs. Check 'em out IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY--they, fit HIGH, too. I THINK they're made by a firm called FDR orthotics. | |
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