How did Brian Mast lose his legs? GOP Rep took part in Operation Dragon Strike in Afghanistan
On Wednesday, January 13, CNN host Jake Tapper was slammed on Twitter after he reportedly questioned the patriotism of Brian Mast, an Army veteran and double amputee who serves as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 18th congressional district, after he opposed the Democrats' efforts to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time on the House floor. January 13 saw the House vote to impeach Trump for the second time -- making him the only U.S. president to ever be impeached twice. The resolution passed with 232 “Ayes”, 197 “Nays”, and four legislators abstaining from voting. Of the 232, ten names were those from the Republican party.
During his time on the floor, Mast said, “I rise with a very simple question. On January 6, thousands broke the law by taking siege of our Capitol here with us inside. Has any one of those individuals who brought violence on this Capitol been brought here to answer whether they did that because of our president? It appears I will receive no answer."
Tapper during one of the network's segments said, "Congressman Brian Mast... who lost his legs, by the way, fighting for democracy abroad, although I don't know -- about his commitment to it here in the United States."
In response to the comment, Mast later said that he lost two legs for Tapper's right to say “whatever the hell he wants, but that free speech also protects the Republicans he is so eager to condemn for asking Constitutional questions about the election.” During an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends’, Mast said, "I’m gonna say to Mr. Tapper the same thing that half of America is saying right now, hold me to a high standard -- don’t hold me to a double standard. And me asking if any of these lawmakers that are about to vote have gone through any questioning, any hearings, have asked any questions of anybody, that’s an appropriate question and it speaks to the foundation of our democracy, it doesn’t diminish it," adding that he would also tell the CNN anchor that the country needs to heal its divisions through debate.
How did Mast lose his legs?
Mast enlisted in the army after finishing high school and was deployed in the Afghan province of Kandahar. While there, Mast worked as a bomb disposal expert under the elite Joint Special Operations Command. As per a profile on the website of Harvard Extension School, where Mast applied to finish his undergraduate degree, on September 19, 2010, during Operation Dragon Strike, a counterinsurgency operation, his unit had acquired the location of a high-value target.
When they arrived close to the target, Mast halted his men to search the ground at suspicious terrain -- looking for tripwires, batteries, or signs of disturbed earth. The helicopters had supposedly taken fire before landing, and the unit was on the ground, moving in darkness, as the bomb technician began sweeping for improvised explosive devices. The technical name for the job is Explosive Ordnance Disposal or EOD.
As per the Harvard profile, “He sensed danger but couldn’t find anything. He’d sent the signal to two snipers behind him that he was ready to forge ahead. Then a blinding white flash burst in the pitch black. He’d been blown upwards, tumbled through the air, the wind punched out of his lungs when he landed. He could remember lying there with soot and dirt and mud caked in his eyes, seeing nothing. He’s listening to his men through his earpiece: ‘EOD was hit’.”
When he next woke up, It was September 25. He was at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. He had lost five days. But that wasn’t all. He had also lost both of his legs just above the knee, plus a portion of his left forearm and his left index finger.
Speaking to The Washington Examiner, a conservative news website and weekly magazine, on the 10th anniversary of this horrific incident, Mast said, “One of the first things I truly remember was when my father came to my bedside and he was tearful. He was emotional. You know, his son is laying in front of him with no legs and an arm almost blown off and fingers gone."
Mast continued, "The first thing that he said to me after he told me that he loved me and that he was proud of me and he was glad I was OK was that I had to get back to work. He said, 'Brian, you can't let this keep you down. You've got to find a way to pull yourself up and get yourself out there and get back to work’."
As per Mast, his recovery took more than two years, during which he remained on active duty and began assisting the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. After 12 years in the military, Mast retired from the Army and worked as an explosive specialist with the Department of Homeland Security. After completing his education at Harvard, Mast won a seat in Congress in 2016.