Walz leans into military service at DNC as veterans rebuff ‘stolen valor’ attacks

CHICAGO — Accusations that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) is guilty of “stolen valor” are falling flat to the group of people attending the Democratic National Convention who are closest to the situation: veterans.

Multiple military veterans expressed discontentment while speaking to the Washington Examiner about the attacks against Walz’s military service, calling accusations that the Minnesota governor is stealing valor a “nonstarter” and a “made-up political junky term,” among other things.

Walz is expected to lean into his military service at his vice presidential acceptance speech Wednesday night. Walz’s military service has been under a microscope since he was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris’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 command sergeant major.

In a video set to introduce Walz Wednesday that is narrated by his wife, Gwen, she recounts Walz’s military service, saying he “served 24 years in in the National Guard, rising to command sergeant major.”

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. Harris’s campaign website once described Walz as a “retired command sergeant major” but has since been updated.

Walz’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.

“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,” Vance said during a campaign stop recently. “Here’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.”

Vance continued, “What won’t ‘stolen valor’ Tim Walz fib about?”

Retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who oversaw overseas deployments for the National Guard, called the attacks against Walz just “political crap” with “no facts behind it.”

Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John Estrada expressed disappointment in Vance for attacking Walz’s military record, explaining that “less than 1% of Americans serve.”

Estrada continued, “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.”

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.

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, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

Critics say the comment implies Walz served in an active war zone; however, the Minnesota governor was never deployed to a combat zone during his military career. He did deploy to Italy in 2003 to support active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Vance jabbed at Walz for the comment during a campaign stop earlier this month.

“I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?” Vance said. “What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq.”

A spokesperson for Harris’s campaign said in a statement earlier this month that Walz “misspoke” in the video.

Army Reserve Maj. Michael Bell, who also served 15 years in the Army National Guard, said Walz’s comment was a “misquote” and that he “made a mistake.”

“We all do it,” said Bell. “I don’t think that’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’re both veterans and I thank them both for their service, but J.D. Vance is wrong in this.”

Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mike Smith called Vance’s attacks against Walz “absolutely disgraceful.”

“I think that if anything, we should be honoring Tim Walz. We’ve been through this whole thing,” Smith said, referring to criticism John Kerry weathered during his presidential campaign known as “swift boating.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who was one of the Democratic lawmakers on Harris’s short list to be her running mate, called claims that Walz was guilty of stolen valor “ridiculous” while speaking with reporters outside the DNC’s Veterans and Military Families Council meeting Tuesday.

“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’ve earned over a career the opportunity to retire,” Kelly said.

Kelly continued, “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.”

Congressional military veterans have been divided over the issue, with 50 Republican lawmakers condemning Walz for committing “egregious misrepresentations” of his military record in a letter sent to the Minnesota governor on Wednesday.

The letter, which was sent on a Trump-Vance letterhead, followed a previous statement signed by 18 Democratic lawmakers defending Walz and his service.