Transgender Col. (IL) Jennifer Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired) presented the Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s Founder’s Awards to Congressman Adam D. Kinzinger and to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth. (Duckworth accepted in person, while Kinzinger accepted virtually.)
The event began with a brief introduction and moved into hearing from veterans about the importance of Veterans Day while also honoring the 100th anniversary of the “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”
The tomb recently made news as it recently allowed visitors to walk on the plaza and lay flowers in front of the tomb as part of a two-day centennial event, NPR noted. Since its creation in 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has drawn crowds of tourists to Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the unidentified service members who died in U.S. conflicts.
Kinzinger, a U.S. representative for Illinois’ 16th Congressional District, is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran, Purple Heart recipient and former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was among the first handful of Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.