03676cam a2200673 i 4500 1892882015 TxAuBib 20250127120000.0 201130s2021||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2020951068 9781538718506 hardcover 1538718502 hardcover TxAuBib rda Duckworth, Tammy, 1968-, author. Every day is a gift : a memoir / Senator Tammy Duckworth. First edition. New York : Twelve, 2021. ©2021. ix, 275 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier "Soldier, senator, mother"--Jacket. Half child -- Country woods -- Cast away -- Booze cruises and buckets of roses -- Surviving -- "The females at Advanced Camp are all fucked up" -- Rotorhead -- Iraq -- Wall of pain -- Owning the suck -- Soldier's creed -- Pandora's box -- Gift from the heavens -- A score to settle. The Iraq War veteran traces her impoverished childhood, her decision to join the Army, the months spent recovering from the RPG attack that shot down her helicopter and nearly took her life, and her subsequent mission of serving in elected office. Daughter of an American father and a Thai-Chinese mother, Duckworth faced discrimination, poverty, and the horrors of war, all before the age of 16. Through these experiences she developed a fierce resilience that would prove invaluable in the years to come. Duckworth joined the Army, becoming one of a handful of female helicopter pilots at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She served eight months in Iraq before an insurgent's RPG shot down her helicopter, an attack that took her legs, and nearly took her life. After thirteen months recovering at Walter Reed and learning to walk again on prosthetic legs, she found a new mission after meeting her state's senators, Barack Obama and Dick Durbin. This is her story as one of America's most dedicated public servants. -- adapted from jacket. 20250127. Duckworth, Tammy, 1968- Duckworth, Tammy, 1968- fast United States Congress Senate Biography. Women legislators United States Biography. Legislators United States Biography. Women politicians United States Biography. Politicians United States Biography. Veterans United States Biography. Disabled veterans United States Biography. Iraq War, 2003-2011 Veterans United States Biography. Women veterans United States Biography. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political. bisacsh BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military. bisacsh POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Legislative Branch. bisacsh Amputees. fast Helicopter pilots. fast Legislators. fast Politicians. fast Racially mixed people. fast Racially mixed women. fast Veterans. fast Women amputees. fast Women helicopter pilots. fast Women legislators. fast Women politicians. fast Women veterans. fast United States. fast Biography. fast Autobiographies. fast Biographies. fast Autobiographies. fast