CHICAGO — Accusations that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) is guilty of “stolen valor” are falling flat to the group of people attending the Democratic National Convention who are closest to the situation: veterans.
Multiple military veterans expressed discontentment while speaking to the Washington Examiner about the attacks against Walz’s military service, calling accusations that the Minnesota governor is stealing valor a “nonstarter” and a “made-up political junky term,” among other things.
Walz is expected to lean into his military service at his vice presidential acceptance speech Wednesday night. Walz’s military service has been under a microscope since he was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. Criticism about his service includes what rank Walz held when he retired, as Walz and his allies have inaccurately claimed he retired as a command sergeant major.
In a video set to introduce Walz Wednesday that is narrated by his wife, Gwen, she recounts Walz’s military service, saying he “served 24 years in in the National Guard, rising to command sergeant major.”
Walz held the rank of command sergeant major before retiring; however, he did not complete the necessary requirements needed for the position and was reverted back to master sergeant for benefits purposes upon his departure. Harris’s campaign website once described Walz as a “retired command sergeant major” but has since been updated.
Walz’s Republican rival, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), has accused the Democratic vice presidential nominee of lying about his military record and abandoning his unit before it was deployed to Iraq when he retired to run for Congress.
“Kamala Harris, she gets really mad when I bring up the stolen valor of her running mate, but let me tell you why it matters; every single person here understands why this matters,” Vance said during a campaign stop recently. “Here’s the record on Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota; he dropped out of the military and allowed his unit to go to Iraq without him. He knew they were going to Iraq, he lied about it, but he knew they were going to Iraq.”
Vance continued, “What won’t ‘stolen valor’ Tim Walz fib about?”
Retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who oversaw overseas deployments for the National Guard, called the attacks against Walz just “political crap” with “no facts behind it.”
Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John Estrada expressed disappointment in Vance for attacking Walz’s military record, explaining that “less than 1% of Americans serve.”
