{"id":2321733,"date":"2024-08-09T06:31:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T10:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-abandoned-his-guard-soldiers-when-they-needed-him-most\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T06:36:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T10:36:21","slug":"walz-abandoned-his-guard-soldiers-when-they-needed-him-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-abandoned-his-guard-soldiers-when-they-needed-him-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Walz Abandoned His Guard Soldiers When They Needed Him Most"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwalz-abandoned-his-guard-soldiers-when-they-needed-him-most%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321733&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The narrative centers on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and \u200daccusations\u2063 surrounding his military service. During his campaign, Senator JD Vance has criticized Walz for allegedly &#8220;stealing valor&#8221; and misrepresenting his military\u200b credentials\u200d for political gain. Vance highlighted that Walz retired from the \u2063National Guard just before his unit was mobilized \u2064for deployment to Iraq, suggesting\u200c he prioritized his political career over\u200c his military responsibilities. <\/p>\n<p>Walz has\u2064 faced backlash\u2062 for \u200cclaiming \u2064he served as \u2062a &#8220;Command Sergeant Major,&#8221; a title he did\u200c not officially hold, having retired \u200cas a \u2064sergeant major instead. Recently, \u200bhis campaign adjusted his biography to reflect this reality; however, his\u200c official gubernatorial \u2064website \u200dstill implies a higher rank. Critics assert that Walz\u2019s comments about his wartime service, including insinuations \u200dof having operated weapons in\u2064 combat \u2064zones, are misleading since he did not \u2064see\u2064 direct combat.<\/p>\n<p>Former colleagues have also expressed concern over the morale impact of his departure \u200bduring \u200ca critical time for his battalion. In his\u2062 defense, Walz\u200d has \u2063maintained that his\u200d Army career equipped him to \u200dserve in various capacities, while \u200bhis critics argue \u200bthat he has undermined the service of actual combat \u200cveterans through his inflated portrayal of\u2064 his military service.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Bill Osmulski got married in August 2013. He and his Wisconsin National Guard unit were deployed to Kuwait just six months later.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The War on Terror veteran served two years and two tours of duty in the Middle East, including in Iraq. As a soldier in the administrative wing &mdash; at points teaching Iraqi soldiers how to write press releases and use social media&nbsp; &mdash; the work wasn&rsquo;t dangerous. But the deployments for a newlywed were anything but convenient.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For the first three years of my marriage, I was deployed for two of them,&rdquo; Osmulski, content director at the Madison-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maciverinstitute.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MacIver Institute<\/a>, told The Federalist Thursday during a phone interview. &ldquo;Yes, there&rsquo;s always a reason not to go.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lots of reasons. But Osmulski and his comrades put their lives on hold when their country called. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Walz Chooses Politics Over His Battalion&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had his reasons for leaving, too. In March 2005, after 24 years in the National Guard, Walz called it quits. He wanted to run for Congress. He departed in the middle of a six-year enlistment &mdash; and amid talk of mobilization &mdash; to pursue his political dream.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Walz, a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/tim-walz-is-a-folksy-socialist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;neighborly&rdquo; socialist<\/a> tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; running mate, at the time said service is service.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq,&rdquo; he said a March 2005 <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20050420004957\/http:\/\/www.timwalz.org\/pr.php?pr=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That was a few days after the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced &ldquo;a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard.&rdquo; The announcement noted that &ldquo;all or a portion of Walz&rsquo;s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.&rdquo; As the head cheese, Walz was looking at a deployment to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-two-sides-of-the-withdraw-from-afghanistan-or-not-argument\/\" title=\"The Two Sides Of The \u2018Withdraw From Afghanistan Or Not?\u2019 Argument\">war-torn nation<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to speculate on what shape my campaign will take if I am deployed, but I have no plans to drop out of the race,&rdquo; the Democrat said at the time. &ldquo;I am fortunate to have a strong group of enthusiastic supporters and a very dedicated and intelligent wife. Both will be a major part of my campaign, whether I am in Minnesota or Iraq.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He stayed in Minnesota. Ultimately he went to Washington, beginning a political career marked by the kind of Marxist ideas that have made Minnesota and the United States weaker, more dangerous, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/594251\/minnesota-state-and-local-government-debt\/#:~:text=In%20the%20fiscal%20year%20of,billion%20U.S.%20dollars%20in%202000.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">significantly more in debt<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Walz chose Congress over his battalion. He retired. Soon thereafter his unit was officially mobilized and deployed to the war zone. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Osmulski said the sudden departure of a commanding officer would be a huge letdown to a battalion preparing for deployment in a war.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That would have a definite impact on morale, for your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-ignored-warnings-about-withdrawing-troops-from-afghanistan-military-leaders-say\/\" title=\"Military leaders say the Biden administration disregarded Afghanistan troop withdrawal warnings.\">command sergeant major<\/a> to to that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s training with you, getting ready to go with you, with the expectation that you are going to war, and this guy suddenly says, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going to retire and run for Congress?&rsquo; You bet there&rsquo;s going to be grumbling about that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, former President Donald Trump&rsquo;s running mate in November&rsquo;s presidential election, has taken aim at Walz&rsquo;s political decision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him &mdash; a fact that he&rsquo;s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people he served with,&rdquo; said Vance, a U.S. Marine Corps and Iraq War veteran.<\/p>\n<p>The Harris-Walz campaign has been on the defensive. It issued a statement this week hoping to shore up Walz&rsquo;s questionable military credentials.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American&rsquo;s service to this country &mdash; in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It&rsquo;s the American way.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Walz has repeatedly insulted and undermined the service of America&rsquo;s servicemembers &mdash; by lying about his service to serve his political ambitions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Far Darker Than a Lot of People Think&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The consummate politician was deployed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but to non-combat zones of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/us\/politics\/2024\/08\/08\/tim-walz-military-record-accuse-shirk-iraq-us-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Norway and Italy.<\/a> It is true he technically served in support of the war efforts, but he was thousands of miles away from the firing lines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, Walz campaigned for governor with a gun-control message that inflated his service. &ldquo;We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war,&rdquo; he said of proposals to ban assault rifles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Except, there appears to be nothing in his reported military records to suggest the former National Guardsman actually fired a weapon in war. Training others &ldquo;to use weapons of war innumerable times,&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t the same as firing them &ldquo;in war.&rdquo; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tim_Walz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Tim_Walz<\/a>: I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. I&rsquo;ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war,&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3IVaXi2RP2\">pic.twitter.com\/3IVaXi2RP2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KamalaHQ\/status\/1820918063966962143?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,&rdquo; Ret. Command Sgt. Maj. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/08\/08\/us-news\/mom-slams-coward-tim-walz-for-retiring-from-national-guard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thomas Behrends,<\/a> who served with Walz in the Guard, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/national-guard-report-refutes-tim-walzs-claim-actually-toting-war-weapons-in-war#:~:text=%22To%20most%20people,%20that%20would,said%20which%20war%20he%20fought.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Fox News host Laura Ingraham. He said that the governor&rsquo;s misleading comments are &ldquo;far darker than a lot of people think.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Stolen Valor&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Vance has accused Walz of <a href=\"https:\/\/ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/news\/2024\/08\/07\/jd-vance-tim-walz-stolen-valor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stealing valor<\/a> for political gain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage,&rdquo; Vance said this week on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s used the rank that he never achieved in order to advance his political career,&rdquo; Behrends told Ingraham. &ldquo;I mean, he still says he&rsquo;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vp-pick-tim-walz-accused-of-stolen-valor-by-former-military-colleagues-he-abandoned-us\/\" title=\"VP Pick Tim Walz Accused of &#039;Stolen Valor&#039; by Former Military Colleagues: &#039;He Abandoned Us&#039;\">retired command sergeant major<\/a> to this day, and he&rsquo;s not. He uses the rank of others to make it look like he&rsquo;s a better person than he is.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/08\/08\/harris-walz-military-credentials-00173236\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> Thursday, the Harris-Walz campaign quietly updated its online biography to reflect that Walz retired as a sergeant major, not a retired command sergeant major as the governor and his campaigns have claimed over the years. Walz&rsquo;s gubernatorial website <a href=\"https:\/\/mn.gov\/governor\/about-gov\/timwalz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">still makes it appear<\/a> as if he retired as &ldquo;Command Sergeant Major.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,&rdquo; the biography states.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mostly, though, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2024-election\/republicans-vance-start-tearing-walz-going-military-record-rcna165564\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corporate media are,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-news\/tim-walz-falsely-accused-stolen-valor-jd-vance-1235075718\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not surprisingly<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/democrats-defend-walzs-military-record-as-vance-gop-begin-attacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">covering for<\/a> Walz&rsquo;s inflated military narrative just as they go about reinventing Vice President Kamala Harris, attempting to package a bumbling &ldquo;border czar&rdquo; and word salad shooter into the next Golda Meir. Without the Jewishness, of course. Because <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/08\/with-shapiro-snub-leftists-display-their-antisemitism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">it seems clear the DNC<\/a> and its presidential campaign want nothing to do with Jews.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The leftist governor who let <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/06\/kamala-harris-selects-radical-leftist-tim-walz-as-2024-running-mate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Minneapolis burn<\/a> under Black Lives Matter riots and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/06\/kamala-harris-selects-radical-leftist-tim-walz-as-2024-running-mate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oppressively locked down his <\/a>fellow citizens in the name of Covid is a scumbag. He&rsquo;s not alone. A lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle are scumbags.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What makes him a whole different class of scumbag is how he has used and abused his military record to further his political advantage &mdash; at the expense of brave men and women who actually served on the front lines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But it&rsquo;s Walz&rsquo;s decision to walk out on his unit at a critical time that has old soldiers like Osmulski scratching their heads.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s never convenient for anybody to go to war, even for people who want to go to war,&rdquo; Osmulski said. &ldquo;But to get someone who uses his rank and position to do something no one else in the unit could have done &hellip; that undermines the stability of the unit.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Osmulski married in August 2013, and just six months later, he and his Wisconsin National Guard unit were sent to Kuwait. A veteran of the War on Terror, he completed two years and two tours of duty in the Middle East, including Iraq. His role was primarily administrative; at times, he instructed Iraqi soldiers on writing press releases and using social media, which was not particularly dangerous. However, being deployed shortly after getting married posed significant challenges for him. &#8220;In the first three years of my marriage, I was deployed for two of them,&#8221; Osmulski shared during a phone interview with The Federalist on Thursday. &#8220;There are always reasons not to go.&#8221; Despite numerous excuses available to him and his fellow soldiers, they chose to put their lives on hold when their country needed them.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also had his own reasons for stepping away from military service. In March 2005, after serving 24 years in the National Guard, Walz decided to leave mid-enlistment\u2014just as discussions about mobilization were underway\u2014to pursue a congressional run. At that time, he stated that service is service: \u201cAs Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq but also to serve if called upon.\u201d This statement came shortly after an announcement regarding a potential mobilization of around 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard.<\/p>\n<p>Walz expressed uncertainty about how his campaign would proceed if deployed but insisted he would not withdraw from the race: \u201cI am fortunate to have strong supporters and a dedicated wife who will be integral parts of my campaign whether I\u2019m in Minnesota or Iraq.\u201d Ultimately opting for politics over military duty led him away from deployment while his unit eventually went into combat.<\/p>\n<p>Osmulski noted that losing a commanding officer right before deployment could significantly affect troop morale: \u201cIt would definitely impact morale if your command sergeant major suddenly says he&#8217;s retiring to run for Congress while you&#8217;re preparing for war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), who served alongside former President Donald Trump during last November&#8217;s election cycle as running mate has criticized Walz\u2019s decision: \u201cWhen Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq&#8230;he dropped out of the Army,\u201d Vance remarked.<\/p>\n<p>The Harris-Walz campaign has been working defensively regarding these criticisms by emphasizing Walz&#8217;s extensive military experience; they claimed that throughout his service spanning 24 years he trained others extensively with weapons used in warfare.<\/p>\n<p>However, critics argue that despite technically supporting war efforts during deployments in Norway and Italy\u2014far removed from actual combat zones\u2014Walz\u2019s claims may misrepresent true combat experience since there is no evidence suggesting he fired weapons during wartime conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends commented on this issue stating that many people assume such statements imply direct involvement in combat situations when they do not reflect reality accurately.<\/p>\n<p>Vance accused Walz of &#8220;stolen valor&#8221; aimed at political gain due largely because it appears contradictory given that Walz left just before deploying with his unit while claiming honors associated with higher ranks than those actually achieved within military structure itself\u2014a point echoed by Behrends who highlighted ongoing discrepancies between what rank Walz claims versus what records indicate regarding retirement status.<\/p>\n<p>Despite attempts by corporate media outlets seemingly shielding these narratives surrounding both politicians\u2019 backgrounds\u2014the actions taken by individuals like Osmulski reveal deeper frustrations among veterans feeling undermined through politicized representations tied closely back towards genuine sacrifices made across various conflicts faced historically throughout American history overall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2321734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-08-at-7.40.28-PM-1024x520.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[20987,4187,27318],"class_list":["post-2321733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abandonment","tag-soldiers","tag-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-08-at-7.40.28-PM-1024x520.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}