PHILADELPHIA >> Despite being in a tough campaign against incumbent Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, Democratic Congressman Rep. Tammy Duckworth used her time on the Democratic National Convention stage to tell her life story.

Duckworth, who walked on stage with prosthetic legs and a cane, called America “the greatest nation on earth, a nation that so many are willing to die defending.” She added it is a nation that if you work hard, won’t abandon you.

Duckworth graduated from McKinley High School in Honolulu and attended the University of Hawaii.

She talked about her family’s hard times while she was in high school in Hawaii.

“My dad, a proud Marine, lost his job in his 50s. For a little time, my dad did odd jobs. My mom took in sewing. I got a minimum wage job,” she said.

“We relied on food stamps to help us get by. The summer before I started college, my parents walked everywhere instead of taking the bus. Once a week, they would hand over that saved up bus money, $10, to the university housing office, a deposit so I could move into the dorms in the fall.

“Thanks to Pell grants, affordable student loans and a lot of waitressing, I fulfilled my dream of college. I worked hard. But I had a lot of help from my community and my country.”

The Iraq war veteran who lost her legs in combat didn’t miss a chance to take the obligatory jab at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Duckworth took on Trump’s readiness to be commander in chief, saying “I didn’t put my life on the line to defend our democracy so you could invite Russia to interfere in it.”

She was referencing Trump encouragement of Russia to find and make public emails deleted by opponent Hillary Clinton.

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Online: Watch Tammy Duckworth’s full speech.