Tammy Duckworth

I can't avoid the interest in the fact that I'm an injured female soldier.

When I joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1992, there were no female four-star generals. I still remember the day in 2008 when a woman first achieved that rank.

My first direct encounter with the military was when I joined ROTC as a graduate student, although my father, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, can trace the military service in our family all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

I'm glad that people know my military service. But, like this nation, we are more than our military. And the rest of our story is the same as the rest of my story.

Our military men and women are our greatest national treasure. They should be safeguarded as such upon their return.

I believe accurately remembering - and honoring - our whole past is the first step in governing in a way that effectively represents the whole America.

I actually shoot. I enjoy target practice. I find it really zen. You focus on nothing but the target. You have to control your breathing. It's all part of my years in the military, where I was taught to become a marksman but also to respect my weapon.

In the military, a combatant command is the ultimate job. It's the pointy tip of the spear, overseeing the people carrying the rifles and flying the aircraft.

Our troops do an incredible job every single day, but our policymakers have not lived up to the sacrifices that our troops make every day.

When I was young, my dad, a veteran who attended college on the GI Bill, lost his job at age 55 when the company he worked for was sold. My entire family pitched in - my mom took in sewing, and I got a minimum wage job after school.

My therapist would be so happy to know I'm doing all this walking. They've done a great job of putting me back together, haven't they?

As I recovered at Walter Reed, I worried about the soldiers who pulled me out of my helicopter that Friday afternoon. Would they make it back okay? And what about all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who were also putting their lives on the line every day?