{"id":2328747,"date":"2024-08-21T19:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T23:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-leans-into-military-service-at-dnc-as-veterans-rebuff-stolen-valor-attacks-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-21T19:30:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T23:30:46","slug":"walz-leans-into-military-service-at-dnc-as-veterans-rebuff-stolen-valor-attacks-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walz-leans-into-military-service-at-dnc-as-veterans-rebuff-stolen-valor-attacks-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Walz leans into military service at DNC as veterans rebuff \u2018stolen valor\u2019 attacks &#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\">32<\/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-leans-into-military-service-at-dnc-as-veterans-rebuff-stolen-valor-attacks-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=2328747&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>During the\u2063 Democratic National \u2064Convention, \u200cMinnesota Governor Tim Walz faced accusations of \u201cstolen valor\u201d regarding his military service,\u200d particularly concerning\u2062 claims that he inaccurately portrayed his rank upon retirement. Critics, including Republican Senator J.D. Vance, allege \u200bthat Walz misrepresented his \u200bmilitary \u200drecord and abandoned his unit before \u2062they were deployed to\u200d Iraq. However, many veterans present at the convention defended Walz, dismissing\u200c the \u2063accusations as political tactics devoid of substance. Notably, \u2064retired National Guard officers criticized the attacks, \u2062describing them as unfounded political rhetoric. Walz, who \u200bserved 24 years in the Army National Guard, has maintained that he did fulfill his military duties, though he didn\u2019t see combat deployment. He is expected to highlight his military background as part of his vice presidential \u2063bid. Despite the \u200dcontroversies\u200c surrounding his service, supportive veterans and military\u200c leaders \u200dare calling for respect towards Walz\u2019s service record and have expressed disapproval of the attacks against him.  <\/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\">Walz leans into military service at DNC as veterans rebuff &lsquo;stolen valor&rsquo; attacks<\/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_1730885\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>CHICAGO &mdash;<\/strong> Accusations that Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-walz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Tim Walz\">Tim Walz<\/a> (D-MN) is guilty of &ldquo;stolen valor&rdquo; are falling flat to the group of people attending the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-national-convention\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Democratic National Convention\">Democratic National Convention<\/a> who are closest to the situation: veterans.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple military veterans expressed discontentment while speaking to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> about the attacks against Walz&rsquo;s military service, calling<strong> <\/strong>accusations that the Minnesota governor is stealing valor a &ldquo;nonstarter&rdquo; and a &ldquo;made-up political junky term,&rdquo; among other things.<\/p>\n<p>Walz is expected to lean into his military service at his vice presidential acceptance speech Wednesday night. Walz&rsquo;s military service has been under a microscope since he was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo;s running mate. Criticism about his service includes what rank Walz held when he retired, as Walz and his allies have inaccurately claimed he retired as a <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>. <\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X9QsR6Ydl3E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"video\">video<\/a> set to introduce Walz Wednesday that is narrated by his wife, Gwen, she recounts Walz&rsquo;s military service, saying he &ldquo;served 24 years in in the National Guard, rising to command sergeant major.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz held the rank of command sergeant major before retiring; however, he did not complete the necessary requirements needed for the position and was reverted back to master sergeant for benefits purposes upon his departure. <span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;\"><\/span>Harris&rsquo;s campaign website once described Walz as a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-misrepresented-his-military-service\/\" title=\"Tim Walz Misrepresented His Military Service\">retired command sergeant major&#038;rdquo<\/a>; but has since been updated.<\/p>\n<p>Walz&rsquo;s Republican rival, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), has accused the Democratic vice presidential nominee of lying about his military record and abandoning his unit before it was deployed to Iraq when he retired to run for Congress.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Kamala Harris, she gets really mad when I bring up the stolen valor of her running mate, but let me tell you why it matters; every single person here understands why this matters,&rdquo; Vance said during a campaign stop recently. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the record on Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota; he dropped out of the military and allowed his unit to go to Iraq without him. He knew they were going to Iraq, he lied about it, but he knew they were going to Iraq.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Vance continued, &ldquo;What won&rsquo;t &lsquo;stolen valor&rsquo; Tim Walz fib about?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who oversaw overseas deployments for the National Guard, called the attacks against Walz just &ldquo;political crap&rdquo; with &ldquo;no facts behind it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John Estrada expressed disappointment in Vance for attacking Walz&rsquo;s military record, explaining that &ldquo;less than 1% of Americans serve.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Estrada continued, &ldquo;And we go wherever our nation wants us at that time, and he went wherever our nation sent him. He did support our operation, enduring freedom. l am disappointed that J.D. Vance would come after Gov. Walz like he did. I do not feel that he should have.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring in 2005 just months before his unit got the official order it would be deploying to Iraq. Republicans have accused him of abandoning his unit, and a few members of his unit have publicly expressed resentment that Walz retired when he did.<\/p>\n<p>Walz also came under fire for a comment he made in a video from 2018 circulating on social media in which he spoke out against gun violence, saying, &ldquo;We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Critics say the comment implies Walz served in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/venezuelan-migrant-fleeing-across-u-s-border-slams-americans-who-dont-know-the-reality-of-socialism\/\" title=\"Venezuelan Migrant Fleeing Across U.S. Border Slams Americans Who \u2018Don\u2019t Know The Reality Of Socialism\u2019\">active war zone<\/a>; however, the Minnesota governor was never deployed to a combat zone during his military career.&nbsp;He did deploy to Italy in 2003 to support active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. <\/p>\n<p>Vance jabbed at Walz for the comment during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/l-a-democrat-running-for-mayor-wants-city-to-resume-daytime-ban-on-homeless-encampments\/\" title=\"L.A. Democrat Running For Mayor Wants City To Resume Daytime Ban On Homeless Encampments\">campaign stop earlier<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?&rdquo; Vance said. &ldquo;What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Harris&rsquo;s campaign said in a statement earlier this month that Walz &ldquo;misspoke&rdquo; in the video.<\/p>\n<p>Army Reserve Maj. Michael Bell, who also served 15 years in the Army National Guard, said Walz&rsquo;s comment was a &ldquo;misquote&rdquo; and that he &ldquo;made a mistake.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We all do it,&rdquo; said Bell. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s stolen valor. Plenty of other people make similar comments about their service. No one is going to yell at them or argue with them or accuse them of stolen valor, of trying to take something away from other veterans. They both served. They&rsquo;re both veterans and I thank them both for their service, but J.D. Vance is wrong in this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mike Smith called Vance&rsquo;s attacks against Walz &ldquo;absolutely disgraceful.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that if anything, we should be honoring Tim Walz. We&rsquo;ve been through this whole thing,&rdquo; Smith said, referring to criticism John Kerry weathered during his presidential campaign known as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/walz-swiftboating-kerry-trump-harris-national-guard-293e178ca9fe079e879787ee2269899e\" title=\"swift boating\">swift boating<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who was one of the Democratic lawmakers on Harris&rsquo;s short list to be her running mate, called claims that Walz was guilty of stolen valor &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; while speaking with reporters outside the DNC&rsquo;s Veterans and Military Families Council meeting Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I spent 25 years in the United States Navy, I retired at 25 years. Gov. Walz retired from the Army at 24 years, when you serve over 20 years in the military, you&rsquo;ve earned over a career the opportunity to retire,&rdquo; Kelly said.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly continued, &ldquo;The contrast could not be more clear between patriots and veterans like Tim Walz and Donald Trump, who has a total and complete disregard for our veterans and our service members.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Congressional military veterans have been divided over the issue, with 50 Republican lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3129131\/gop-veteran-lawmakers-denounce-walz\/\">condemning<\/a> Walz for committing &ldquo;egregious misrepresentations&rdquo; of his military record in a letter sent to the Minnesota governor on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The letter, which was sent on a Trump-Vance letterhead, followed a previous statement signed by 18 Democratic lawmakers defending Walz and his service.<\/p>\n<\/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_1730885\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1730885\"}});<\/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>Walz emphasizes military service at DNC as veterans dismiss &#8216;stolen valor&#8217; claims<\/p>\n<p>CHICAGO \u2014 Allegations that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has engaged in &#8220;stolen valor&#8221; are being rejected by veterans attending the Democratic National Convention, who are most familiar with the matter. Several military veterans voiced their dissatisfaction to the Washington Examiner regarding these accusations, labeling them as a &#8220;nonstarter&#8221; and a &#8220;fabricated political term.&#8221; Walz is anticipated to highlight his military background during his vice presidential acceptance speech on Wednesday night. His service has come under scrutiny since he was chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217;s running mate, particularly concerning the rank he held upon retirement; while Walz and his supporters have claimed he retired as a command sergeant major, this assertion is inaccurate. In an introductory video narrated by his wife Gwen, she recounts that Walz \u201cserved 24 years in the National Guard, rising to command sergeant major.\u201d Although he held that rank before retiring, he did not fulfill all requirements for it and was reverted to master sergeant for benefits when he left.<\/p>\n<p>Harris\u2019s campaign website previously described him as a \u201cretired command sergeant major,\u201d but this has since been corrected. His Republican opponent, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), accused Walz of misrepresenting his military record and abandoning his unit prior to its deployment to Iraq when he chose to run for Congress instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKamala Harris gets very upset when I mention her running mate&#8217;s stolen valor,\u201d Vance stated during a recent campaign event. \u201cEveryone here understands why this matters: Tim Walz dropped out of the military and let his unit go to Iraq without him.\u201d He further questioned what else Walz might be dishonest about regarding his service.<\/p>\n<p>Retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Manner dismissed these attacks against Walz as mere \u201cpolitical nonsense\u201d lacking factual basis. Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John Estrada expressed disappointment in Vance\u2019s criticism of Walz\u2019s record, emphasizing that less than 1% of Americans serve in the military and noting that everyone goes where they are needed at any given time.<\/p>\n<p>Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring in 2005 just months before his unit received orders for deployment to Iraq; some members of that unit have publicly criticized him for retiring at such a time.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, criticism arose from comments made by Walz in a 2018 video addressing gun violence where he stated weapons used in war should only be present on battlefields\u2014implying active combat experience\u2014which critics argue is misleading since he was never deployed into combat zones during his career; however, he did support operations from Italy during deployments related to Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Vance challenged him on this statement earlier this month: \u201cWhen were you ever actually at war? What weapon did you carry into battle if you left your unit right before they went?\u201d A spokesperson for Harris&#8217;s campaign later clarified that Walz had simply misspoken.<\/p>\n<p>Army Reserve Maj. Michael Bell defended him by stating it was merely an error rather than stolen valor: \u201cWe all make mistakes&#8230; No one accuses others of trying to take away from other veterans\u2019 experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mike Smith condemned Vance\u2019s remarks about Walz as disgraceful and suggested honoring rather than attacking those who have served honorably.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who was considered for Harris&#8217;s running mate position, called claims against Walz ridiculous while speaking with reporters outside DNC meetings focused on Veterans Affairs: \u201cAfter serving over two decades like Gov.Walz has done&#8230; you&#8217;ve earned your retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The issue remains divisive among congressional veterans; recently 50 Republican lawmakers sent a letter condemning what they termed egregious misrepresentations regarding Walsh&#8217;s record while earlier statements defending him were signed by 18 Democratic lawmakers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2912,"featured_media":2328748,"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\/Tim_Walz_Pennsylvania_2024_1.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7705,37484,4873,27318],"class_list":["post-2328747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dnc","tag-military-service","tag-veterans","tag-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tim_Walz_Pennsylvania_2024_1.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328747","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\/2912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2328747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2328748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2328747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2328747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2328747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}