Sen. Duckworth, A Wounded Veteran, Reflects On Her Return To Iraq

Duckworth Speaks At 2016 DNC Convention
Photo credit Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY NETWORK

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Fifteen years ago, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth left Iraq on a stretcher. Last week, she returned to the country for the first time with a pair of her fellow senators -- a return trip she’ll never forget.

"I wasn't really ready to be hit with the sense of flashback that I was,” the Illinois Democrat said.

But she said the emotions took over as she sat alongside Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Angus King (I-Maine).

"Just the smell of the sand and the desert, the sounds of the aircrafts, seeing the soldiers," Duckworth told WBBM Newsradio.

"Putting on my body armor and feeling that familiar weight again for the first time in so many years, I just had this moment where I felt very disjointed. I felt, 'Wait, I should be in uniform, in a flight suit, in the front of this aircraft in the pilot's seat.'"

15 yrs ago, I deployed to Iraq to fly helicopter missions. This week, I returned for the 1st time since I was shot down, leading a bipartisan delegation w/ my friends @SenatorIsakson + @SenAngusKing to express our hope that Iraq will be a close US ally for many years to come. pic.twitter.com/3YSCHMn4ys

— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) April 26, 2019

That’s where she was sitting in 2004 when her Army helicopter was shot down. She lost both of her legs.

"Flying over the exact spot where I may have died and where I was rescued really reaffirmed in me my commitment to our military men and women and doing something to solve this problem,” Duckworth said.

She advocates greater U.S. engagement in the country -- militarily, economically and diplomatically.