Mindy Kaling, Bowen Yang, Margaret Cho, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and more on belonging in America
Source: TODAY
Tammy Duckworth
U.S. SENATOR FOR ILLINOIS
It wasn’t so much one moment but the pivotal realization that the strength of our nation lies in our diversity, especially when we interact internationally.
In the mid-90s, as a young platoon leader and First Lieutenant, I participated in Operation Brightstar, a NATO training exercise in Egypt. We were out in the desert with air crews from all different parts of NATO and somebody had gone up to one of the guys in my aircrew to ask to look at the aircraft — this often happened as a gesture of goodwill for the locals. And, at the time, I was the only commissioned officer in the unit that was a woman — and I was the only Asian American in a command position. And when one of the guys in our crew said they had to go talk to me to look at the aircraft, their reaction was “Who? The little Asian girl?” And the response was, “yep, she’s the boss.”
In that moment, it crystallized the power of America for me, in terms of the eyes of the rest of the world. Just the fact that our guys were taking orders from a woman — an Asian American woman — shows the power of America. All of us were Americans — we have respect for each other — and it’s important the rest of the world sees that.
“Just the fact that our guys were taking orders from a woman — an Asian American woman — shows the power of America.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth
By: Robin Kawakami
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