Iraq veteran fights mid-term battle

By Ian Brimacombe of BBC News:

In a strip mall nestled among the petrol stations and donut shops of Lombard, Illinois, Tammy Duckworth, one of the great Democratic hopefuls of this mid-term election, is selling her message to a round table of military veterans. Ms Duckworth's story is well known to many by now. She was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq. She was shot down north of Baghdad, costing her her legs and giving her a calling in politics.
She's now trying to win this western suburb of Chicago, the 6th congressional district of Illinois which, until now, has been a Republican stronghold.
She is animated as she talks about an issue close to her heart: health insurance for veterans. "The guys that are fighting over there right now need to be taken care of," she says. "When you go out there to fight, you need to know that your family is going to be taken care of if you don't come home."
"That's right," say a few veterans.
"Each one of us came home when a buddy didn't," she says, "and we've got to look out for each other."