Tammy Duckworth: VA official, war amputee is flying again

[n2doc]

By Katherine Skiba
Tribune reporter
August 30, 2009


WASHINGTON -- Tammy Duckworth, the former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost both her legs to a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, hoists herself into a single-engine Piper Cherokee.

She turns the key, taxis to a runway, pushes the throttle and pulls back on the yoke to coax the four-seat plane, its propeller whirling, onward and upward.

Now it's blue skies for Duckworth, who's flying again.

For the 41-year-old assistant U.S. veterans affairs secretary, flying equals freedom, even if it's not adrenaline-drenched combat duty but sailing over exurban Virginia's forests and farms.

"I leave my wheelchair behind up in the air," she says. "It doesn't matter that I'm disabled. It's joy. It's relaxation. It's also a challenge."

more, with video, at link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tammy-duckworth-30-aug30,0,933682.story

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Good for her.

[jdadd]

2. I know how she feels.....

I used to fly, lost my medical (heart problems) I really miss it. Good for her!!! There are some nasty comments posted under the story about her in the Tribune....@*% Freepers!!