Published on August 10, 2024, 12:32 am

In his initial congressional attempt in 2005, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz garnered attention for being portrayed as a “war vet” on his campaign website. Articles from various trusted news outlets focused primarily on Walz’s conceptualized military involvement, and many of them suggested links to war activities.

This included Roll Call’s piece titled “Minnesota Skinny: Democrats Fretting About Rowley, Touting War Vet,” among others implying that Walz had been to Iraq. Examples include “After Hackett’s Close Call, Iraq War Veterans Are in Demand” and “Other Iraq War Veterans Running.”

However, the accuracy of Walz’s military service record has long been disputed within a real news narrative. This contention was brought back into the limelight by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign when it posted a video of her running mate propagating gun control measures. In the video, he made the striking statement: “We can make sure that those weapons of war I carried in war are only found there.” Provoking further questions because Walz was not in fact deployed in Iraq nor Afghanistan; rather his station was Italy.

One Chris Manning who shares National Guard experience with Walz affirmed that one cannot be termed a “war vet” if they have never actually served on the battlefronts. He stated quite pointedly, “If you don’t go to war you are not a war veteran… being a security guard at an airbase in Italy is not going to war; it isn’t a combat tour.”

Manning added frankly that “Walz should not be referred as a war veteran and it is dishonest for him to propose otherwise”.

Given this line of questioning around his military service history does raise concerns due to its intrinsic part valorized on his 2006 campaign website and continuance connection with issues related to veterans. It read fondly about how as an Army National Guard Veteran presumably Command Sergeant Major Walz, was deeply concerned about existing and upcoming veterans in the VA system.

However, these accounts came under scrutiny as the Minnesota National Guard refuted Walz’s assertion of being retired as a Command Sergeant Major. According to them, Walz retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes due to his failure to complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. It appeared to many that Walz might have actually retired upon receiving news of his battalion’s possible deployment to Iraq, giving rise to speculation around him avoiding combat.

Despite all these questions surrounding his military service record, Walz had stated in March 2005 through a press release that he anticipated his campaign would be deployed to Iraq.

From this evidence presented from various sources for such breaking news, it helps establish a clearer and much more encompassing view of the situation revolving around Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his disputed service history. This comes from an understanding based on a Christian worldview where truth and honesty are upheld dearly.