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For Tammy Duckworth, War Injury Leads to Politics

By Joseph Shapiro
Published March 29, 2006 at 6:07 PM EST
Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a 2004 rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq, is running for the House seat occupied by retiring GOP Rep. Henry Hyde.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a 2004 rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq, is running for the House seat occupied by retiring GOP Rep. Henry Hyde.

One of the more interesting congressional races this year involves a former Army National Guard helicopter pilot who was shot down in Iraq. Last week, Tammy Duckworth won the Democratic nomination from a district in the suburbs of Chicago. Duckworth comes from a long line of veterans with serious war injuries who wind up in politics.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Joseph Shapiro
Joseph Shapiro is a NPR News Investigations correspondent.
See stories by Joseph Shapiro