Since 2004, Tammy Duckworth has lost her legs, lost her father and lost an election. Now she is losing her husband.

An Iraq war veteran, Ms. Duckworth ran in Illinois as a Democrat during the Congressional mid-term elections last fall. She lost by fewer than 5,000 votes.

During the campaign, she became a powerful symbol of the anti-war effort: A pilot and Army National Guard officer, she lost both her legs and shattered her right arm when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocked propelled grenade in Iraq. During her recovery, her father suffered a heart attack and died.

Three days after her election defeat, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Ms. Duckworth head of the state’s veterans’ affairs department. Next month, she will experience the war from an entirely new perspective: Her husband, Bryan Bowlsbey, a major in the Illinois National Guard, is being deployed to Iraq.

Despite their opposition to the war, the couple both support of Maj. Bowlsbey’s upcoming mission.

“We are ready for him to go. It’s his d uty,” Ms. Duckworth said in an interview. “What we don’t want is for someone to go in his place.”

Source: National Post