A different battle (2/12/05)

A different battle
War-tested soldier fights to walk again
Saturday, February 12, 2005
By Dori Meinert

Through a Plexiglas window at her feet, she saw the rocket-propelled grenade hurtling toward the Black Hawk helicopter she was flying over Iraq. She heard the explosion when it hit and saw a bright orange fireball erupt at her knees.
As Army National Guard Maj. Ladda Tammy Duckworth struggled to land the damaged helicopter, she began feeling weak. Things seemed to be moving in slow motion. But she didn't know why.

She didn't realize her legs and part of her right arm had been blown away.