Gov. Tim Walz, newly selected to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, served in the Army National Guard for 24 years prior to running for Congress. As Walz has ascended onto the national stage, many veterans have been up in arms about several issues with his military record.
As a combat veteran, I want to clarify for people who may not have served so they can understand veterans’ perspectives and concerns.
The first concern is retiring to avoid a deployment. Gov. Walz retired from the National Guard in 2005, during which time he did not deploy to a combat zone either under the Global War on Terror, or during any other conflict that the United States had been involved in during his 24 years of service.
In 2005, Walz’s unit was informed about an upcoming deployment, and Gov. Walz, acting as the senior enlisted leader of his unit, abruptly decided to retire. That retirement was cowardly and selfish. While he was certainly eligible to retire, if he knew about an upcoming deployment, it was not in the best interest of both the Army and his men to retire at that time.
Some arguments that have been made for his retirement are “he needed to retire to run for Congress.” This is disingenuous at best. Many congressmen and women have served in the National Guard while also serving in Congress. Tulsi Gabbard springs to mind. Walz’s campaign at the time also had put out a press release in March 2005, admitting it knew about the upcoming deployment and he planned to serve on the deployment.
Many civilians who have not served do not understand the role that the senior enlisted leader plays within a unit. The best leaders are like the quarterback. They help the other players succeed and set them up for success. The senior enlisted soldier also plays a huge role in setting the tone for the unit. By abandoning his men abruptly, Gov. Walz let his men down, and made them feel like they were not important. This cowardice strikes men and women who were taught about service over self, and about loyalty deeply and harshly. Men who served with Gov. Walz also expressed severe disappointment with his decision, to put it gently.
Walz served for over 20 years, loyally and faithfully, while getting a huge number of benefits including having his college paid for. When called upon by his nation to do his duty and to go to Iraq, Gov. Walz said, “No thank you” and abandoned his men to pursue selfish ambition.
Avoiding a deployment is not veterans’ only concern with Gov. Walz’s time in service. As mentioned earlier, he retired in 2005 having never been involved in a combat deployment. Unfortunately, it seems Gov. Walz has also committed Stolen Valor. Stolen valor comes in several flavors. The most common is trying to claim you served when you did not, and the most serious being veterans who exaggerate their service for personal gain. This is Gov. Walz.
The first instance of Walz’s stolen valor was during an interview with The Atlantic, in which Walz stated he served overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Operation Enduring Freedom, or OEF as it’s known colloquially by this generation of combat veterans, was the official name of military actions in Afghanistan. Instead of Afghanistan, Walz served for six months in Italy, notionally providing additional security for a U.S. Army garrison, while at night when off duty, he was able to go out to restaurants and travel throughout Italy.
This particular statement during the interview may have been an accidental omission or miscommunication. But later in the interview, Walz discusses how he was protesting a visit by President George W. Bush, and he asked the Bush staffers if they wanted to arrest a command sergeant major who just returned from fighting the war on terror. Gov. Walz was not fighting the war on terror, and the fact that he so proudly misrepresented his service is a serious concern.
In another article released Tuesday in Bloomberg, Walz was initially praised for having fought “in Iraq as part of Operation Enduring Freedom,” Bloomberg made a correction and changed Iraq to Italy with no note to why it was changed.
Walz’s final case of Stolen Valor was when he was campaigning to infringe upon Americans Second Amendment rights. While referring to what are commonly called “assault rifles” he said “we can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.” That is a blatant lie, as Gov. Walz never served in a war zone.
Recent veterans are particularly sensitive to cases of Stolen Valor. That is due to the fact that less then 1 percent of Americans served in combat zones during the Global War on Terror, yet somehow, similar to after Vietnam, more and more pretenders are emerging from the shadows. People who lie to use the current support of the military to advance their careers, obtain discounts from businesses, or gain sympathy from other Americans are rampant.
Beyond people who never served, service members have been known to pad their resumes with lies about combat deployments or particularly about jobs held while in the military. Lying or distorting the truth about serving overseas is seen as an insult to the memory of the men and women who were lost, and those who sacrificed their bodies, minds and families. Unfortunately, it seems Gov. Walz falls into this category. This is beyond disappointing.
Gov. Walz having served honorably for so long should know better than to lie about his service. It’s a slap in the face to those who have given the last full measure of devotion to our country as President Abraham Lincoln said, and the fact that it seems like Gov. Walz used it to advanced his political career makes it all the more damning.
Based on these actions, Gov. Walz did not reflect the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. In fact his behaviors are the anthesis of these values, disloyal, cowardly, selfish, and dishonorable. Both committing Stolen Valor by lying about his deployments and by abandoning his soldiers shortly before deploying. These actions are why veterans are angry about his role within the campaign.
If Gov. Walz’s sins are continued to be ignored by many in the media, what else will the media lie about or cover up in order to get Democrats elected?
