Veterans increasingly calling out Walz’s military record: ‘Shameful’

After Vice President Kamala Harris named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in 2024, veterans have begun publicly criticizing him over his military record.

“When your country calls, you run to battle, not the other way around,” retired Army Sergeant Major Thomas Behrens told the New York Post last week when Walz was named Harris’ running mate. “He ran. It’s sad.”

“He had the opportunity to serve his country and instead he said ‘Fuck you’ to America. I will not choose him as my running mate.”

Behrens’ comments were quickly followed by a flurry of reports about Waltz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard, raising questions about his military record and giving momentum to the “defamation” claims.

Waltz transferred from the Nebraska National Guard in 1996 and served with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. He retired as a sergeant major in 2005.

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As war raged in the Middle East after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, criticism grew over Waltz’s decision to retire just months before his battalion was scheduled to deploy to Iraq. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Waltz submitted his retirement papers at least five months before the battalion received orders to deploy.

“He subverted the chain of command, he bypassed the chain of command. The brigade [sergeant] The major had no idea. These are all important facts and he did it to keep his bunk comfortable… that was the shameful part,” said Major Paul Hare, a retired Army sergeant major. He told Fox News last week.

Meanwhile, former Minnesota National Guard Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin, in an interview with CNN, seemed to double down on his criticism that Waltz retired while the unit was preparing to deploy. Julin said that in the months before Waltz wanted to retire, the battalion had had multiple meetings to discuss the deployment, “including my superiors, my command staff and my command team.”

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The grieving mother of Sergeant Kyle Miller, who died at age 19 in 2006, also responded harshly to Sergeant Waltz’s retirement just before the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.

“He wasn’t even 21 yet. He couldn’t even buy alcohol, but he chose to serve his country while Waltz was figuring out the best way to get away,” Miller’s mother, Cathy Miller, said. He told the Daily Mail Last week, Kyle Miller was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, where he was assigned to Waltz’s former battalion.

“It was a coward’s escape route.”

Since retiring, Walz had a successful congressional run, serving as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019 and later as the state’s governor. Harris announced last Tuesday that she had chosen Walz as her running mate in the 2024 election, following speculation that she would choose Walz, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly as her running mate.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attend a campaign rally at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on August 10, 2024. (Rhonda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

Waltz has since come under fire from many veterans for lying about his military history, including publicly identifying himself as a retired “master sergeant.”

Waltz was promoted. After deploying to Italy in 2004, he was promoted to master sergeant but did not complete the U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy coursework required to retain his rank upon retirement. Instead, Waltz retired as a sergeant major, one rank below master sergeant.

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The battalion commander of Waltz’s former Minnesota Army National Guard unit issued a scathing message on Facebook over the weekend, saying it was an “insult” to the military for Waltz to continue using a rank he did not hold when he retired.

“By all accounts and records, he was a competent gunnery captain/gunnery sergeant and first sergeant. However, I have never seen him in uniform or [command sergeant major] “Mr. Chairman, he was never able to earn the rank of E9 or successfully serve as an E9,” said retired Lt. Col. John Kolb. 1st Battalion, 125th Field ArtilleryHe wrote on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.

“His continued clinging to that title is an insult to the enlisted corps. You can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, but that doesn’t make you a pilot. Similarly, when the demands of the highest levels of service and leadership became a reality, he chose a different path,” Kolb said in a social media post.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and Walz’s office earlier this week to ask why Walz did not complete the U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy before retiring from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005, but did not receive an explanation for his decision.

Instead, the Harris campaign pointed Fox Digital to a 2018 Minnesota Public Radio article in which a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson said it was “fair to say Mr. Waltz served as a master sergeant.”

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Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler denied Gov. Tim Walz’s 2018 claim that he had ever possessed weapons “in a war.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnick)

“[The public affairs officer] “The rank change occurred because Waltz was discharged from the Army prior to completing his coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy and other requirements related to promotion,” the article explained.

The Harris campaign updated Waltz’s biography last week, removing a statement that he was a “retired master sergeant” and saying that “Waltz served as a master sergeant.”

Waltz has also been accused by veterans of misrepresenting his service in a combat zone – he deployed to Italy in 2003 to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, but never served in a combat zone.

In a video shared by the Harris campaign last week, Walz declared that he wanted to ban guns like those he “carried into war.”

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Last week, the Harris campaign updated Waltz’s biography to remove a statement that he was a “retired master sergeant.” (AP Photo/Abby Parr)

“I was in the Army for 25 years, I hunt, I’ve voted for common sense bills that protect the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks, we can do gun violence impact studies, we can make sure that the weapons of war that I carried in war, I can only carry in war,” Walz said in a video posted by Harris’ campaign last week.

Harris’ campaign said last week that Walz’s claim that he carried a firearm “during a war” was “false.”

“The Governor has misled people when it comes to making the case for why weapons of war should not be on our streets or in our classrooms,” Hitt added. “The Governor has handled weapons of war and strongly believes they should only be handled by military personnel trained to carry them. He is not like Donald Trump or J.D. Vance, who put the gun lobby over children,” campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told media.

Virginia Republican Senate candidate Hun Kao blasted Walz for suggesting he served in a combat zone.

“For 20 years this guy lied about being deployed to Iraq, which he wasn’t, and he lied about being discharged as a master sergeant, which he wasn’t. Those are total lies,” Kao, a former Navy captain, told the New York Post last week.

Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, who last month ran alongside former President Trump as a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, also criticized Walz’s military record.

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“As a Marine who served my country in uniform during my time in the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did so. I followed their call and acted honorably,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, guess what he did? He quit the Army and let his unit go without him. This has been heavily criticized by many who served with him.”

When asked about the growing criticism from military veterans, the campaign pointed Fox Digital to several positive comments from veterans about Waltz’s decades of military service.

“This is insanity. Thousands of people retire every month. The fact that Walz served for 25 years, five years past his retirement eligibility, and four years after 9/11 is an honor. Many of those currently serving at 25 would retire having served their duty, even if they had the possibility of deployment,” former congressman and Air National Guard Lt. Col. Adam Kinzinger posted on X last week.

“For over a decade, every time we needed him he was there, and even Republicans will say that. Anyone who has served in Congress knows Tim Walz was a leading sponsor of mental health, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, VA reform and veterans benefits reform. When times were particularly difficult for our veterans, Tim Walz was there,” Paul Rieckhoff, a veteran and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said of Walz on MSNBC.

“He was a really good soldier,” Joe Eustice, a 32-year National Guard veteran who served in the same battalion as Walz, told CNN, adding that he would not vote for Walz.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Luke)

But criticism of Walz’s military record from veterans has been ongoing for years and only surfaced nationally after Harris picked him as her running mate.

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“For many years, Tim Walz has exaggerated and selectively omitted facts and circumstances regarding his military record,” Behrens and Herr wrote in the letter, published by the West Central Tribune in 2018.

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“He resigned at the request of the people. He failed to complete the United States Army Sergeant Major Academy. He failed to serve two years after completing the academy and then dropped out of the academy. He failed to serve two years after his conditional promotion to master sergeant. He failed to complete the six-year enlistment he signed on September 18, 2001. He let down his country. He let down his state. He let down the Minnesota Army National Guard, 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and his fellow Soldiers. And he failed to lead by example. It is disgraceful,” they continued.

Walz is scheduled to join Harris next week in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention will be held, the final leg of the campaign before Election Day.

Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.

Fox News Digital’s Gabriel Hayes contributed to this report.