Here's a great story in the Chicago Tribune about Assistant Cabinet Secretary Tammy Duckworth. As you'll recall, Tammy lost both of her legs when a rocket propelled grenade shot down the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting in Iraq. That was nearly five years ago. Now she's back to flying again.

For the 41-year-old assistant U.S. veterans affairs secretary, flying equals freedom, even if it's not adrenaline-drenched combat duty but sailing over exurban Virginia's forests and farms. 

"I leave my wheelchair behind up in the air," she says. "It doesn't matter that I'm disabled. It's joy. It's relaxation. It's also a challenge."

For the flight last Sunday afternoon, she's accompanied by a flight instructor and wearing only one artificial leg. It's for her left leg, which still has a knee. The single prosthesis works both rudder pedals, making for some fancy footwork at 2,000 feet.

What remains of her right leg is three inches of femur, and its full-length prosthesis "gets in the way" while flying. "It's too high an amputation," she says.

For 85 minutes, Duckworth carves the skies, traveling up to 109 m.p.h., and practices turns, stalls and landings. Elementary maneuvers for a student pilot, but exhilarating. 

"It's joy when I'm back in the aircraft and I'm up in the air," she says, "because this is what I used to do."

As we've said before, Tammy is a true American hero. It's so nice to hear she's got her wings back!