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Memorial Day is a national holiday officially dedicated to remembering those members of this nation’s armed forces who died while fighting for our country.
In reality, it is also an opportunity to thank those who currently serve or have served in the military, particularly those who, while they haven’t made the ultimate sacrifice, returned from their tours of duty with severe and life-changing injuries.
One of those injured veterans is now the junior Senator for the state of Illinois, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
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Senator Duckworth is noteworthy on many fronts. Born in Thailand to an American Army veteran and a Thai mother, she is the first Asian-American woman from Illinois elected to Congress and the first Senator to give birth while in office.
Even more noteworthy on this Memorial Day is the fact that the Senator is an Iraq war veteran who served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and sustained devastating injuries when her copter was shot down by Iraqi insurgents, leaving her with her current distinction as the first and only female double amputee to serve in the Senate.
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Given her background, one would imagine that Senator Duckworth would issue a compelling message to her constituents on Memorial Day, and predictably she did not disappoint.
This #MemorialDay, we remember the brave men& women who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we cherish. We must never forget their service and sacrifice& we must do all we can to honor their courage by upholding our duty to support our Veterans, servicemembers&their families pic.twitter.com/NSpMBucKeL
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) May 28, 2018
Many thanks to Senator Duckworth and every other veteran and current armed forces member for their dedication and service to protecting those freedoms we so often take for granted. There’s never been a time those freedoms needed protecting – more from internal forces than from external enemies – than now.
Let’s hope that they get the thanks they deserve through the support of veterans’ issues like affordable housing and healthcare that go beyond the hypocritical platitudes that corporate tax-slashing politicians mouth while failing to fund the agencies that can deliver those services.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
