{"id":2323660,"date":"2024-08-13T09:38:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T13:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-veterans-call-out-walz-on-military-service-claims-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-13T09:42:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T13:42:21","slug":"texas-veterans-call-out-walz-on-military-service-claims-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-veterans-call-out-walz-on-military-service-claims-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas veterans call out Walz on military service claims &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/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%2Ftexas-veterans-call-out-walz-on-military-service-claims-washington-examiner%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=2323660&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>A controversy\u200d has arisen regarding Minnesota Governor Tim Walz&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/controversial-candidate-jr-majewski-drops-out-of-ohio-house-race\/\" title=\"JR Majewski, a controversial candidate, withdraws from Ohio House race\">military service claims<\/a> as\u2062 several Texas veterans in Congress criticize him for allegedly exaggerating\u200c his military \u200cexperience.\u2063 Walz \u2064served in \u200cthe Army National Guard for 24 \u200cyears but has \u200cfaced\u2062 scrutiny for \u200dclaiming he carried\u200b &#8220;weapons of war&#8221; and alluding to combat experience. Critics, including Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson, have labeled him a &#8220;fraud&#8221; and &#8220;lying coward,&#8221; emphasizing he never\u2064 saw combat during his deployments. Other veterans, such as Representative Wesley Hunt, expressed outrage at claims of service in combat \u2064zones when Walz did not actually \u2064serve in such \u2062conditions. The \u2064matter has\u200b resurfaced following\u2064 Walz&#8217;s selection as\u2063 Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217;s running \u200dmate, \u2063with\u200d questions\u2062 regarding his\u2063 military \u200crecord and the authenticity \u200dof his \u2062service claims. While a \u200dHarris <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-calls-coast-guard-graduates-dull-for-not-applauding-during-his-speech\/\" title=\"Biden Calls Coast Guard Graduates \u2018Dull\u2019 For Not Applauding During His Speech\">campaign spokesperson<\/a> stated Walz &#8220;misspoke,&#8221; no further clarifications have been made. \u200cThe criticism \u2062highlights \u2063issues of honesty and integrity\u2064 in \u200dmilitary service\u200d narratives\u200c within the political sphere.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Texas veterans call out Walz on military service claims<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1729329\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Of Texas&rsquo; nearly a dozen veterans serving in Congress, several are weighing in on a&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/national\/article_58fd7f98-57f8-11ef-ba58-7701bd615ce9.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">military service controversy<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;surrounding the presumed vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who served in the Army National Guard for 24 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Questions and criticisms about Walz&rsquo;s military record have existed since&nbsp;2006&nbsp;when he first ran for Congress&nbsp;and&nbsp;resurfaced after he was chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, as her running mate.<\/p>\n<p>At a 2018 event, Walz&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KamalaHQ\/status\/1820918063966962143\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;his goal was to ban Americans from purchasing &ldquo;weapons of war that I carried in war,&rdquo; bringing criticism from veterans nationwide because he never fought in combat. Walz served in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. In 2003, he was deployed to Vicenza, Italy, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He was never in Afghanistan and never saw combat there.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, a Harris campaign spokesperson said Walz &ldquo;misspoke;&rdquo; neither Harris nor Walz have issued a statement or provided any clarification.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Walz also claimed that in 2005, before his unit deployed to Iraq, he retired from the Guard to run for Congress and his rank was <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>. Military records show that Walz finished his service&nbsp;at&nbsp;master sergeant, retiring before he could complete academy requirements to achieve the higher rank.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Responding to criticism of his claims in 2006, Walz&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcdailyplanet.net\/tim-walz-lies-about-my-service-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;he didn&rsquo;t mislead anyone, retired one year before his battalion&nbsp;was deployed&nbsp;to Iraq, and was proud of his military service.<\/p>\n<p>Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the first to recently criticize Walz,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BethanyBlankley\/status\/1822685151031447798\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argues<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;he&rsquo;s still &ldquo;lying&rdquo; about when and why he says he retired and his rank. He also asked why Harris chose as her running mate &ldquo;a person who has lied about their military service? I think that is a serious lapse in judgment. I don&rsquo;t want to hear from a campaign spokesperson of Kamala Harris. I want to hear from Kamala Harris herself.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Agreeing with Vance, Navy veteran U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, a Republican from North Texas,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RonnyJacksonTX\/status\/1821530627302097095\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Walz a &ldquo;fraud&rdquo; and &ldquo;a lying coward who &hellip; was NEVER in harm&rsquo;s way. He never deployed to Iraq. He never deployed to Afghanistan.&rdquo; He said Walz&rsquo;s &ldquo;&lsquo;war stories&rsquo; disgust me and disgust most other veterans thatactually&nbsp;deployed in defense of this country! SIMPLY PUT, YOU ARE PATHETIC AND A NATIONAL DISGRACE!!!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jackson, who served as the former White House physician for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/national\/article_b0eaf184-3595-11ef-92c5-cb6f9c0c4625.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has called<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;for President Joe Biden to step down, citing his failing mental and physical health. He has also repeatedly called on Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office and, because she won&rsquo;t,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/national\/article_ad218394-449d-11ef-8682-8f0dda7cdb93.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argues both<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Biden and Harris are unfit for office. U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.,&nbsp;agrees, arguing Harris has breached the public trust by hiding Biden&rsquo;s health problems and&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/national\/article_0f116736-4a02-11ef-8beb-072fd72ac311.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed articles<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;to impeach her.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a series of social media posts, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, an Army combat veteran and West Point graduate,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WesleyHuntTX\/status\/1821592765714854395\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a><\/strong>, &ldquo;You DON&rsquo;T have to lie about your service&nbsp;and&nbsp;if you&rsquo;re running&nbsp;for&nbsp;VP&nbsp;you SHOULDN&rsquo;T be lying about your service. Tim Walz chose NOT to&nbsp;go&nbsp;combat. I deployed to combat. I lost friends and classmates in combat. The veteran community is outraged&nbsp;and&nbsp;for good reason.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you did not serve in a combat zone and&nbsp;you&nbsp;claim that you did under any capacity, that&rsquo;s a lie. A slap in the face to all of us who&nbsp;actually&nbsp;did&hellip;and those that didn&rsquo;t make it back.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Referring to Walz&rsquo;s remarks about AR-15s, Hunt said, &ldquo;If Tim Walz is claiming that a&nbsp;civilian made&nbsp;AR-15 is a weapon a&nbsp;war&nbsp;then it just proves he&rsquo;s NEVER been to war.&nbsp;I&rsquo;m so tired of the wordsmiths in the Democrat party gaslighting half the country on guns when they know absolutely NOTHING about them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Navy Seal and wounded veteran U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DanCrenshawTX\/status\/1822284020736000229\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a><\/strong>, &ldquo;Since running for Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz has&nbsp;been&nbsp;caught&nbsp;in controversy&nbsp;for exaggerating his military record.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He also clarified that &ldquo;many veterans in politics embellish their military career&rdquo;&nbsp;when using the word &ldquo;combat,&rdquo;&nbsp;which &ldquo;is plagued by purposeful misdirection. A lot of vets say they were deployed &lsquo;into combat.&rsquo;&nbsp;It&rsquo;s often [expletive]. Very few of us&nbsp;actually&nbsp;leave the safety of the base, whether in Iraq or Afghanistan. But everyone who deploys is technically deployed in a &lsquo;combat zone,&rsquo;and&nbsp;so they advertise &lsquo;combat experience&rsquo;&nbsp;on their resumes.&nbsp;Nothing&nbsp;wrong with serving in a role that doesn&rsquo;t require combat. It&rsquo;s more than most people have done. But if you&rsquo;re trying to run for office and using &lsquo;combat&rsquo;as a way&nbsp;to gain credibility, that&rsquo;s wrong.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He also said Walz &ldquo;shouldn&rsquo;t be talking about &lsquo;carrying weapons into combat&rsquo;&nbsp;when he did no such thing,&rdquo;&nbsp;and it appears that Walz &ldquo;lied about his rank of Retired Command Sergeant Major,&rdquo;&nbsp;noting that &ldquo;the Harris campaign had to scrub his rank from their website.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Air Force veteran August Pfluger, a Republican from west Texas, shared his observations from serving with Walz in Congress. When they served on the House Veterans Committee, he&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Jim_Banks\/status\/1820821350216261804\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Walz &ldquo;opposed the most important pro-veteran legislation passed in decades just because it was President Trump&rsquo;s. The Mission Act was very bipartisan, but Walz opposed giving our veterans better access to health care because he didn&rsquo;t want to give President Trump a win. Keep in mind, this&nbsp;is the same guy who wants to give illegal aliens free health care and driver&rsquo;s licenses. Walz is bad for our veterans and horrible for our country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>No Democratic members of Texas&rsquo; congressional delegation are U.S. military veterans.<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1729329\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1729329\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas veterans are criticizing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz regarding his claims about military service (The Center Square). Among the nearly twelve Texas veterans in Congress, several have spoken out about the controversy surrounding Walz, who is considered a potential vice presidential candidate and served 24 years in the Army National Guard. Concerns about his military record date back to 2006 when he first ran for Congress and have resurfaced following his selection as running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, the expected Democratic presidential nominee. At a 2018 event, Walz stated that he aimed to prohibit Americans from buying &#8220;weapons of war that I carried in war,&#8221; which drew backlash from veterans across the country since he never engaged in combat. Although Walz was deployed to Vicenza, Italy, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2003, he did not serve directly in Afghanistan or see combat there.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, a spokesperson for Harris indicated that Walz &#8220;misspoke,&#8221; but neither Harris nor Walz has provided further clarification or comment on this matter. Additionally, while claiming to have retired as command sergeant major before deploying to Iraq in 2005 to run for Congress, military records reveal that he actually retired at master sergeant rank before completing academy requirements necessary for promotion.<\/p>\n<p>In response to criticism regarding his statements made during his initial campaign in 2006, Walz maintained that he did not mislead anyone and expressed pride in his military service despite retiring one year prior to his battalion&#8217;s deployment to Iraq. Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance from Ohio was among those who recently criticized him by asserting that Walz continues &#8220;to lie&#8221; about details surrounding his retirement and rank. Vance questioned why Harris would choose someone who allegedly misrepresents their military background as her running mate.<\/p>\n<p>Echoing Vance&#8217;s sentiments, Navy veteran U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson from North Texas labeled Walz a &#8220;fraud&#8221; and accused him of being a &#8220;lying coward&#8221; who never faced danger during deployment\u2014stating emphatically that such claims are offensive to actual veterans who served honorably.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Representative Andy Ogles from Tennessee also supported these views by arguing that Harris has violated public trust by concealing President Biden\u2019s health issues and has initiated impeachment proceedings against her.<\/p>\n<p>In various social media posts, U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt from Houston\u2014a West Point graduate and Army combat veteran\u2014expressed outrage over what he perceives as dishonesty regarding service records: \u201cYou DON\u2019T have to lie about your service&#8230; If you did not serve in a combat zone&#8230; that&#8217;s a lie.\u201d He criticized comments made by Walz concerning AR-15s as indicative of someone lacking real battlefield experience.<\/p>\n<p>Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw pointed out ongoing controversies related to how politicians like Walz portray their military backgrounds while emphasizing the importance of honesty regarding one&#8217;s experiences when seeking office.<\/p>\n<p>Air Force veteran August Pfluger remarked on how during their time together on the House Veterans Committee; they witnessed opposition from Walz towards significant pro-veteran legislation simply because it was associated with President Trump\u2019s administration\u2014highlighting concerns over whether such actions truly benefit veterans or reflect political motivations instead.<\/p>\n<p>Notably absent among Texas&#8217; congressional delegation are any Democratic members with U.S. military backgrounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2323661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Walz-1-scaled-1024x682.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[37484,3694,4873,27318,32076],"class_list":["post-2323660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-military-service","tag-texas","tag-veterans","tag-walz","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Walz-1-scaled-1024x682.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323660","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2323661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}