Ladda Tammy Duckworth [ 3 ] born March 12, is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since A member of the Democratic Party , she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from to A combat veteran of the Iraq War , she served as a U.
Army helicopter pilot. In , when her Black Hawk 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. Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in , then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from to and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from to In , Duckworth was elected to the U.
House of Representatives , where she served two terms. She was elected to the U. Senate in , defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.
Duckworth is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Army and U. Marine Corps [ 10 ] who traced his family's roots to the American Revolution. If I am going to claimβand be proud thatβI am a Daughter of the American Revolution , then I have to acknowledge that I am also a daughter of people who enslaved other people".
Duckworth attended schools outside the U. After moving to Illinois, Duckworth began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University , with interests in public health and the politics of southeast Asia, which was interrupted by her war service. Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War , [ 10 ] and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War , [ 11 ] Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps [ 28 ] in as a graduate student at George Washington University.
