In a recent Profile of Valor on Texan Marcus Luttrell, I mentioned his fellow SEAL, Dan Crenshaw, now serving with other Republican combat Veterans in Congress.

Dan grew up in a sixth-generation Texas family. His father was an executive in the oil and gas industry, so in his early years, were spent in several countries as necessitated by his father’s job. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and lived in Ecuador and Colombia, but his home is Katy, Texas, west of Houston.

Dan says he aspired to be a Navy SEAL since he was a teenager, when he first read about the heroic actions of those esteemed special operators.

After graduating from high school in 2002, he degreed in international affairs at Tufts University. At Tufts, he joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, commissioning as a Navy Ensign after graduation. His orders were straight to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, where, after six months of requisite training, he graduated with BUD/S Class 264. It was there that he met his future wife, Tara.

He completed SEAL qualifications in 2008 and became a Naval Special Warfare Officer.

Dan’s Naval service covered 10 years, including five tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq with Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first of his deployments was with SEAL Team Three to Fallujah, Iraq.

It was in his third deployment near Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2012, that his life would change in an instant.

As his bio notes: “After six months of combat operations, he was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was evacuated and awoke from his medically induced coma learning that his right eye had been destroyed in the blast and his left eye was badly damaged. Dan was completely blind and the doctors did not believe he would ever see again. Tara stood by him every day and night, keeping faith and praying he would see again. After several difficult surgeries and months of fighting a tough diagnosis, Dan eventually regained sight in his left eye, a miracle according to the head surgeon.”

Despite his injuries, Dan refused to be medically retired and spent four more years in the Navy, including a tour in Bahrain in 2014 and a tour in South Korea in 2016. It was after his second tour that he medically retired as a Lieutenant Commander with the SEAL Teams. His awards included two Bronze Stars (one with Valor), the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor, among others. Of his military service, he says, “It was a time in my life that I don’t regret for a second.”

After leaving the Navy, he earned a graduate degree in public administration in 2017 from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He returned to Texas, where his hometown was hit by Hurricane Harvey. His bio notes: “The storm brought devastation the region had never seen. He spent his time volunteering in areas of Katy, helping his neighbors recover from the damage. He saw first-hand the unthinkable losses that Texas suffered, but he also saw Texan grit and resilience. This inspired him to do more for his community. Dan and Tara decided that the best way to serve the people of Texas would be in elected office.”

That drive to serve was the inspiration for his successful 2018 U.S. House campaign to become the representative for Texas’s 2nd congressional district, during which he focused on border security and immigration reform. His high-profile endorsement by another Veteran, Sen. Tom Cotton, secured his victory and a much higher national profile.

He summarizes that drive today: “I see my country ripping itself apart at the seams, driven by outrage and cancel-culture, and I believe there’s a path to a more resilient America.”

Dan is widely recognized by his right eye patch. That was the subject of a disgraceful joke in 2018 by former “Saturday Night Live” “comedian” Pete Davidson. According to Davidson, Crenshaw looked like a “hit man in a porno movie” but added that he lost his eye in “war or whatever.”

Crenshaw responded: “Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope NBC recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.” A week later, NBC invited Crenshaw onto SNL, where Davidson offered an apology. Crenshaw graciously accepted and used the moment to advocate for services to wounded Veterans.

Davidson and his ilk fall into the Gen N age group, a subset between the Gen Y Millennials and Gen Z cohort, which I characterize as “The Narcissist Generation — a cross section of young people who are largely indifferent to the sacrifices of the generations before them who have fought and died for the American Liberty they enjoy.

Crenshaw has been reelected twice since 2018 and is among the long list of Veterans who have endorsed Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy.

Dan hosts a podcast, ”We Hold These Truths,“ and authored a great book, Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage.

A few excerpts from his book: "Fortitude means having the courage to stand up for what is right, even in the face of overwhelming adversity. … Adversity does not build character, it reveals it. … In the face of fear, true courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to push through it and do what needs to be done. … True strength lies in the ability to remain calm and composed in the face of chaos and uncertainty. … A strong sense of purpose is the foundation of true resilience. … Resilience is not just about surviving adversity, but thriving in spite of it.”

He lives out those lessons daily.

Dan and Tara are raising their family in Katy, Texas, where she is also an effective conservative political activist.

LCDR Dan Crenshaw: Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty, and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.

“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.

(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

Follow Mark Alexander on X/Twitter.

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