'Nothing Easy' About Getting a Purple Heart: Double Amputee Trolls Trump on Twitter

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who's running for the U.S. Senate, trolled Donald Trump over the Purple Heart he was given Tuesday by a war veteran as the Republican presidential candidate's feud with the family of a fallen soldier continued to roil.

Trump, campaigning in Ashburn, Virginia, seemed touched by the veteran's gesture as he fished the decoration out of his suit pocket and showed the audience. Then Trump said he "always wanted to get the Purple Heart" and noted that receiving one as a gift was "much easier" than serving in the military and facing combat.

Duckworth, an Army helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs and severely damaged her right arm in the Iraq War, has teed off on Trump several times during the campaign. Duckworth spoke at the Democratic National Convention in July, saying the Republican presidential nominee was "not fit to be commander in chief."

She also spoke about her war wounds, sustained on Nov. 12, 2004, when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her Black Hawk helicopter.

"I (survived) only because my buddies refused to leave me and wouldn’t stop, even as they struggled to carry my body, with its missing limbs," she said.

Doctors managed to save her right arm, which is severely scarred.

On Tuesday, she posted a photo to Twitter showing the Purple Heart pinned to her hospital gown as she recuperated at Walter Reed Medical Center. She received the Purple Heart on Dec. 3, 2004.

Duckworth's father was a Marine Corps veteran, and Duckworth joined the Army Reserve out of a desire to follow in her father's military footsteps. She decided to be a helicopter pilot because that is one of the few combat roles a woman can fulfill in the U.S. military. She served from 1992 to 2014, when she retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Duckworth, who represents the 8th District in Illinois, is the first disabled woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She has worked as assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs under the Obama administration, and previously worked as the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

A Democrat, she is running against Mark Kirk, the incumbent Republican U.S. senator. Kirk has also been very critical of Trump, calling him a "privileged bully" who's unfit to lead the U.S. military.

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Trump has made support for veterans a centerpiece of his campaign, frequently mentioning his fundraising efforts on behalf of veterans throughout the primary season.

Trump has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for his comments about the mother and father of an Army captain killed in action in the Iraq War, in 2004, protecting his troops from a suicide car bomber. Capt. Humayan Khan is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and his parents spoke at the DNC about Trump's attitudes toward American Muslims, particularly his plan to prevent Muslims from entering the United States.

Khizr Khan said Trump has "sacrificed nothing."

Trump countered that he's "sacrificed a lot" during his career, noting his success erecting tall buildings and creating jobs. He questioned why Khan's wife didn't speak during the convention speech, implying that as a Muslim woman she "probably wasn't allowed to speak." Trump also said he was "viciously attacked" by Khan.

On Tuesday, Trump went before a group of veterans to reinforce his image as a champion of veterans. He quickly focused on the Purple Heart gift and posed for photos with retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman, of Montclair, Virginia, the man who handed over his Purple Heart to Trump. Dorfman was wounded in the Iraq War in 2007.

"And I said, 'Man, that's like big stuff.' ... I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier," Trump said.

After speaking, Trump told a reporter for Gray TV, Kellie Meyer, how he now regrets never serving in uniform. Trump obtained five student deferments during the Vietnam War.

"I was fortunate to really not have to go — this was during the Vietnam period, and we were in a very, very highly contested and unpopular war," Trump told her. "And yeah, I was lucky in two ways. But I was also — it's something I've always missed."

Veterans, however, are skeptical, even furious, about Trump's comments.

“Do I believe that he regrets not serving? I doubt it very seriously," Capt. Terrone Sims II told Gray TV after the speech.

John Bircher, a spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, was livid Trump would accept the Purple Heart as a gift.

"It is absolutely horrible for anyone to wear or to have the Purple Heart medal who is not entitled to it," Bircher told CBS News. "There's no 'easy way' to get it.

"I don't think he has any clue as to the meaning of the Purple Heart medal."

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Photo: Tammy Duckworth campaign