‘He is a fraud’: New controversy erupts over military service of Kamala Harris’s vice presidential nominee
A bitter fight has erupted over the military service of Kamala Harris’s vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz.
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A bitter fight has erupted over the military service of Kamala Harris’s vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, with Republicans accusing him of inflating his record and dodging a deployment to Iraq.
Mr Walz, a Democrat, is the Governor of Minnesota. Before running for that job he was a member of Congress, a school teacher, and for 24 years a member of the National Guard.
He attained the rank command sergeant major, the highest rank for enlisted personnel in the US Army, though he retired with the lower rank master sergeant, as he hadn’t completed the academic coursework required to retain his promotion in retirement.
The timing of that retirement is central to the current controversy.
‘Too afraid to deploy’
The chief charge against Mr Walz is that he retired from the Minnesota National Guard to avoid being deployed to Iraq.
There is also a suggestion that Mr Walz portrayed himself, falsely, as having spent time in a war zone when he said, during a discussion about gun control: “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”
He was referring to his time deployed in Europe, in a supporting role, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the international military operation in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq,” the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator J.D. Vance, said this past week.
“What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valour garbage.”
Mr Vance, also a military veteran, did deploy to Iraq as a military journalist.
“Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” he said of Mr Walz.
“I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”
“Tim Walz is a fraud who wants to ban firearms like the ones he claimed to carry in war,” a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign added.
“Except Tim Walz never deployed to a combat zone and lied about his record of service in the National Guard.”
“Tim Walz TURNED HIS BACK on the soldiers in his unit because he was TOO afraid to deploy to Iraq!!” said Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson.
Tom Schilling, who served in the same unit as Mr Walz, told Fox News the vice presidential nominee had “ditched” his brothers.
“We all did what we were supposed to do, we did the right thing,” he said.
“It’s dishonourable, what he did. He left somebody else to take over his spot. He ditched us.
“It would be a disaster if he ever got to be the commander-in-chief.”
The truth is a touch more complicated. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Mr Walz’s unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July of 2005. He retired in May of that year, having submitted his retirement papers at least five months beforehand.
The unit had been notified of a possible deployment to Iraq in March of 2005, a month after Mr Walz filed paperwork for his congressional campaign.
It eventually did deploy in March of 2006.
‘24 years of service’
Mr Walz enlisted in the National Guard at the age of 17. Having completed 20 years of service, he re-enlisted for another four years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
His stint in Europe, specifically in Italy, occurred from 2003-2004.
“After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform,” the Harris campaign said.
“As vice president of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”
Speaking in Michigan on August 7, Mr Vance played up his own military record.
“When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America, asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” said Mr Vance.
“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, do you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him.
“I think it’s shameful.”
Ms Harris, also in Michigan, addressed the controversy.
“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” she said.
“And I think that we all should.”
Originally published as ‘He is a fraud’: New controversy erupts over military service of Kamala Harris’s vice presidential nominee
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