Five eyes, five arms, four legs, three congressmen: Combat veteran welcomes new lawmakers

Five eyes, five arms, four legs. As one veteran pointed out, that adds up to three all-American lawmakers.

To celebrate the newly sworn-in 116th Congress, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., posted a picture on Twitter with freshman Republican colleagues Reps. Jim Baird, R-Ind., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. All three have been wounded in combat.

Crenshaw, who became a household name after he was mocked on “SNL” and later went on the show himself, was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan, which took his right eye. He served 10 years as a Navy SEAL. Baird lost his left arm in the Vietnam War, and Mast lost both of his legs and a finger in an explosion in Afghanistan.

Mast’s tweet underlines a scarcity in lawmakers with first-hand military knowledge and a potential disconnect American civilians have with the current conflicts.

According to data from Army Times, there are 96 House and Senate members with military service under their belt, a far cry from post-draft-war eras such as World War II and Vietnam. Fewer than 40 sitting lawmakers served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

New members of Congress were sworn in Thursday following November’s midterm elections. Democrats took control of the House that will be led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while Republicans held onto the Senate.