 |
SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH |
Although elected to the Senate a little more than a year ago, Duckworth met McCain years before she was elected to office, Duckworth was recovering from her injuries when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq.
She described her first meeting with McCain in an interview with NPR's Ailsa Chang.
"There I was just a couple months after having been so severely wounded. And I was sitting on the therapy bed. And it's a room full of war-wounded and most of us amputees missing one, two or even three limbs, sitting on these mats, going through our physical therapy. And he was walking around the room. It was a little bit notable because I was one of the few women.
"And he came, and he sat down next to me on the therapy bed. And we got to talking. And they introduced me. And then they said, you know, this is Captain Duckworth. She was shot down. She's a helicopter pilot," recalled Duckworth, who is Asian American. "And I said, you know, Sir, you're a great hero to me, Senator McCain. And he said, well, you and I both - you know, we have something in common. I said - you know, of course, here I am, just in awe of this great man, this hero.
"And I was hanging on to see what he was going to say," she smiled. "And he said, you know, we both flew into missiles and rockets. That didn't take a lot of - that didn't take any talent at all. Now what you do to recover is what matters.
"I had, like, done this whole build-up talking with him about how he was my hero and everything. And he said, well, I just flew into a rocket, and so did you, and that didn't take any talent. Like, OK, well, yeah, you're right.Falling out of the sky - this is not a talented thing to do," laughed Duckworth at the recollection.
"That's the thing about John McCain. He had kind of a subversive sense of humor," she said.
“My heart is heavy today as I join countless Americans across our country in mourning the loss of one of our nation’s greatest leaders and statesmen, one of my personal heroes, Senator John McCain. Throughout his life – as a Naval Aviator, a Prisoner of War who endured years of torture, a Congressman, and a six-term Senator – John repeatedly showed how anything is possible when armed with determination, a deep sense of patriotism and an unbreakable will.
“His refusal to give up in the face of adversity inspired me when I was a mission-less helicopter pilot with no legs recovering at Walter Reed. In fact, I met him there for the first time when he visited us Wounded Warriors. He joked that he and I both flew into a missile and that didn’t take much skill. It’s what you do afterwards that matters. His unyielding optimism showed me there was a way to continue serving my country and to advance the core values of the nation that we both fought to protect. His integrity and commitment to putting country above all else as an elected official is an example I have tried to embrace during the comparatively short time I have had the honor of holding political office.
“I will forever treasure the privilege of working with John McCain in the Senate—even if it was only for a short time—and I will be forever grateful for the sacrifices he made in service to the greatest country the world has ever known. I hope the heights he reached and the life he led can be a lesson to us all about the power of perseverance and the ability of every American to overcome any challenge and make our country a better place.”
_______________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment