U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the first female combat veteran elected to the United States Senate, reflected on her military service in the Army Reserves and Iowa Army National Guard in a video released prior to Veterans Day.

Ernst who retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of service that included leading a unit in the Middle East that drove convoys through Kuwait and Southern Iraq.

Her daughter, Libby, is a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. desiring to follow her mother’s footsteps to become an Army officer.

ā€œShe grew up with an understanding that we need to give back, whether itā€™s our communities, our state, or our nation,ā€ Ernst said in the video. ā€œBeing able to serve in our nationā€™s uniform is something she knew was so important to me and now itā€™s also very important to her to be able to give back to our country.ā€

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