The mother of a 19-year-old soldier who was killed during Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s 2006 deployment to Iraq expressed outrage that Walz had taken the “coward’s route.”
in Interview Kathy Miller, the mother of Kyle Miller, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on June 29, 2006, told DailyMail.com on Thursday that she would never again trust Miller, who was discharged from the military two months before he was due to deploy.
“My son stood up. All my sons stood up,” she told the media. “He wasn’t even 21 yet. He couldn’t even buy a drink. But he made the decision to serve his country. Waltz, on the other hand, found the best way to get out.”
She added: “It was a coward’s escape route.”
At the time, Waltz was the battalion’s top NCO, responsible for the welfare of the NCOs under his command, a critical role as the unit was preparing to go to war: Iraq was an active battlefield at the time, and soldiers were facing the worst combat casualties since the Vietnam War.
Supporters say Walz did not retire to avoid the deployment, but they also acknowledge that he knew about the upcoming deployment before deciding to retire.
A man named Alan Bonifield told MPR News in 2018, “He took his decision to run for Congress very seriously. … He loved the military, he loved the National Guard, he loved the soldiers he served with. It was a very difficult decision for him to make, especially knowing that we were going to be deployed to Iraq again. It was a decision he never made lightly.”
Miller also criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank when he retired.
Waltz has claimed for decades that he was a retired master sergeant, a position he held as the battalion’s top NCO leader at the time, but he retired at the lower rank of master sergeant (E-8), not sergeant major (E9).
Waltz also claims to have been “in the war” and did not correct those who identified him as an Afghanistan war veteran.
In a recently resurfaced 2007 video clip, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can be heard thanking Walz for his “battlefield” service.
“I don’t think it’s fair to claim credit for Walz when he hasn’t met his responsibilities,” Miller said, according to DailyMail.com.
“Mr. Walz is claiming a rank he never earned. He was called upon to serve and defend his country, and he has not done so,” she said. “By falsely exaggerating and publicly misrepresenting a rank he never earned, he misrepresents who he really is.”
DailyMail.com reports providing heartbreaking details about her son, including how before his death he had recurring dreams of being blown up in an explosion in Iraq.
When he told his pastor, the pastor offered to have someone else perform the surgery instead, but Miller refused, saying he could not bear to have someone else die in his place.
The next day, Miller died on the way to the hospital when his motorcade hit a roadside bomb.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s running mate and a Marine and Iraq War veteran, told DailyMail.com: “As the senior NCO in your unit, your job is to keep your guys safe. That’s not a job that can be easily replaced.”
A spokesperson for Governor Walz told the outlet, “The Governor honors the service of Kyle Miller and mourns him and all of his fellow National Guard and military members who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
She added: “After 24 years of service, Governor Walz retired from the National Guard to run for Congress, where he worked tirelessly on behalf of military members and their families, speaking out about the unacceptable human cost of war, and working to increase funding and mental health resources for military members who have served in conflicts.”
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