Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz has "embellished and selectively omitted facts and circumstances of his military career for years," according to two retired National Guard service members.
Retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr also accuse Walz of quitting his post ahead of his unit's deployment to Iraq in 2005, leaving it without a leader at a critical time. Walz, 60, whom Kamala Harris announced as her running mate Tuesday, served in the National Guard for 24 years after joining in 1981 when he was just 17 years old.
In an open letter posted to Facebook in 2018, Behrends and Herr wrote, "In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which included the position he was serving in, to prepare to be mobilized for active duty for a deployment to Iraq."
They added, "On May 16th, 2005, [Walz] quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war."
The letter goes on to say Walz's "excuse" for quitting was that he was running for Congress, but the two called that claim "false," noting that Walz could have requested permission from the Pentagon to run for office while on active duty.
The two vets further called out Walz's sudden retirement, saying it complicated his promotion to Command Sergeant Major, which had to be nullified after Walz left the service. Behrends and Herr say Walz "slithered out the door and waited for the paperwork to catch up to him."
The two are not the only ones to raise questions about Walz's military service. Tom Hagen, an Iraq war veteran, wrote a letter to the Winona (Minnesota) Daily News in 2018, calling Walz's retirement "disturbing" and saying it "dishonors those brave American men and women who did answer their nation's call and who continue to serve, fight, and unfortunately die in harm's way for us."
Walz responded, ripping Hagen for his "partisan political attack."
Walz maintains he has "an honorable record" and has been defended by other service members who led the same battalion. Joseph Eustice, who served in the National Guard for more than three decades, calls Walz "a great soldier," adding,"When he chose to leave, he had every right to leave."
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