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Late Tuesday afternoon, the Harris campaign released a talking about gun control. Walz, whom Kamala Harris recently announced as her running mate, talks about banning assault rifles as part of what he calls 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� proposals.
鈥淲e can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,鈥� Walz said in the video.
That was all Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance needed.
鈥淲ell, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this?鈥� Vance said.
The vice presidential candidate is supposed to be an attack dog, sometimes landing the lower blows that might seem unpresidential. But Vance and Walz are also both veterans, with another thing in common: neither one of them saw combat. Their shored up each ticket, adding a military credential beside two presidential candidates that never served. It didn鈥檛 seem like an issue. But in this compressed campaign season, Walz鈥檚 phrasing opened up a line of attack 鈥� and the Trump campaign took it, accusing the Minnesota governor of one of the most grievous charges possible in military circles.
War, combat and service 鈥� and a charge of 鈥渟tolen valor鈥�
Walz joined the National Guard at age 17 and served 24 years, first in Nebraska then Minnesota. During that time he got called up to national disasters and a deployment to the Arctic Circle in Norway. He completed his 20 years required for retirement in 2001, but then reenlisted after the attacks on Sept. 11. His only wartime deployment was to Italy in 2003, backfilling troops that were deploying to Afghanistan. So Vance, and many veterans on social media, took issue with Walz saying he鈥檇 carried weapons 鈥渋n war.鈥�
The Harris campaign said in a statement: 鈥淚n 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's service to this country -- in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It's the American way."
But Vance went a lot further, with an attack that the Trump campaign probably had prepared.
鈥淲hat 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," Vance said.
Since Walz first ran for Congress and then governor, he鈥檚 faced attacks around the timing of his retirement. Vance鈥檚 accusation echoes one made by from the Minnesota Guard who publicly attacked Walz in 2018, in a paid endorsement letter to the editor of the West Central Tribune. They slammed Walz for 鈥渃onveniently retiring a year before his battalion was deployed to Iraq.鈥�
According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired in May 2005, two months before his unit, the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery received an alert order for mobilization to Iraq in July 2005. It鈥檚 likely that Walz put in for retirement months before that May. It鈥檚 also clear that guardsmen anticipated deployment to Iraq months before July.
According to several of his contemporaries in the guard Walz talked about it as a hard decision: that if he deployed he鈥檇 miss his best chance to run for Congress.
鈥淗e weighed that decision to run for Congress very, very heavy,鈥� Allan Bonnifield, who served with Walz, in 2018. 鈥淗e loved the military, he loved the Guard, he loved the soldiers that he worked with, and making that decision was very tough for him. Especially knowing that we were going on another deployment to Iraq. He didn鈥檛 take that decision lightly at all.鈥�
The unit didn鈥檛 go to Iraq until March 2006, 10 months after Walz retired, where it stayed for a grueling 22-month extended deployment. The charge has dogged Walz, and in his last run for governor in 2022, it was even leveled by who never served at all.
Walz鈥檚 rank
The latest round of attacks on Walz stirred up another confusing point about his rank. Walz served as a command sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank. But his retirement papers put him one step lower 鈥� a master sergeant. The Minnesota National Guard told NPR that Walz retired before completing academic requirements to keep the higher rank.
鈥淗e held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion. He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,鈥� said Army Lt. Col. Kristen Aug茅, the Minnesota National Guard鈥檚 state public affairs officer.
So while Walz can say he served as a command sergeant major, which also made him the highest enlisted member serving in Congress, and he can even get away with saying he retired as a command sergeant major, he cannot say he is a 鈥渞etired command sergeant major.鈥� On Thursday the Harris campaign on their website to reflect that.
Charges of 鈥渟wiftboating鈥�
Attacking an opponent鈥檚 military service has a short history in presidential campaigns 鈥� the verb 鈥渟wiftboat鈥� dates back only 20 years, when George W. Bush鈥檚 campaign military service in Vietnam, which might have seemed risky since Bush avoided serving there. Donald Trump, who also avoided going to Vietnam, took the tactic to another level, attacking his GOP critic John McCain鈥檚 storied status as a POW. Now, Harris supporters are claiming that Vance is trying to 鈥渟wiftboat鈥� Walz, and even pointing to a member of the Bush-era campaign who is .
Veterans groups are generally keeping out of the fray; many veterans service organizations are on record praising the choice of two enlisted military veterans as vice-presidential nominees.
鈥淭his means that regardless of the outcome in November, the next vice president of the United States will be a former enlisted service member. I am pleased to see both major parties recognize that military service is once again a valued experience in choosing the candidate for the second highest position in the country,鈥� Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander Al Lipphardt said in a statement.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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