Rotarians get a dose of inspiration from Sen. Duckworth, a former staffer

Sep. 9—CHAMPAIGN — Best known as a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth was the perfect speaker Saturday to a room filled with Rotarians eager to improve the world.

Not only does she speak politics, veterans advocacy, Thai and Indonesian, the Democratic senator from Illinois is also fluent in Rotarian.

After moving to Illinois to pursue her Ph.D in political science at Northern Illinois University, Duckworth answered a newspaper ad that led to her staff position with Rotary International, assigned to help clubs in Asian and Pacific countries for a few years.

"I love, love, love Rotary," said the two-term senator and former two-term Congresswoman, confessing that she rarely declines a request to speak to any Rotary clubs.

"There is a family of Rotary worldwide, people who are forced to pay dues to do service projects, then they get fined throughout the year to raise money for more service projects," she said, drawing a chuckle from her audience.

About 190 people registered to attend the Rotary District 6490 conference at the Holiday Inn in Champaign this weekend. District Governor Janet Ellis said the district, which has 45 clubs, extends from Danville on the east to Decatur on the west and from Dwight on the north to Vandalia on the south.

After a stirring rendition of The Star Spangled Banner by Edison Middle School cellist Issei Tanaka, and the leading of the Pledge of Allegiance by Albanian native Adia Isej, a Champaign Rotary member about to become a U.S. citizen, former Champaign City Manager Steve Carter, introduced the 55-year-old politician, wife and mother of two.

Ellis then had a brief question and answer session with the senator, which was entertaining, audience-directed and motivating.

Asked what advice she had to diversify Rotary and pump up its membership, a lament of service clubs everywhere, Duckworth said getting young people into the clubs is critical.

"I come from a military family," she said, where service to country was paramount.

"You need to give something back to this nation. They learn that service is important and it's what is going to make (them) happy and fulfilled."

Asked how she became a helicopter pilot, Duckworth said she was the only woman in her ROTC unit and thought she might be a linguist. Their instructor told them to write their top five choices but that three had to be combat jobs. "Except for Duckworth," he said, since women were still spared the risk of combat in 1993.

That didn't seem fair to Duckworth that she would have equal pay and rank with her male colleagues but not equal risk. At the time, however, the Air Force had just opened pilot jobs to women and the Army soon followed suit.

"So I put that down. It was the best time of my life. I loved it. It was a lot of fun," she said of her stint as a helicopter pilot.

It was also milieu for the life-changing injury she suffered in November 2004. She lost both legs and some movement in her right arm when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Spending about a year recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center, Duckworth said she was the oldest amputee there at age 36. By virtue of her age, rank and experience, she was thrust into the role of advocacy for fellow disabled veterans.

During that time Sen. Dick Durbin gave her a business card that included his personal cellphone number. Duckworth joked that she took such advantage of that connection that Durbin later urged her to seek public office, which she did, losing at her first run in 2006 for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Circling back to the importance of Rotary, Duckworth said when the Rotary Club in Kabul, Afghanistan, reopened after being shut down in the 1970s, it became an important clearinghouse for getting aid into the war-torn country to those who needed it most.

"Rotary has such a stellar reputation. It's the one place where corruption was not going to be accepted. I was so proud of that," she said.