If Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wasn’t a Democrat, he’d be forced to withdraw from the 2024 race by now. Walz did honorably serve in the National Guard, but what has tarnished that record is his lying about being deployed into a combat zone. It never happened. Old videos and local newspaper articles clearly show Mr. Walz lied about his military record to bolster his political profile, much like the fiasco that engulfed Richard Blumenthal and his Vietnam War service that never happened. It all started with a clip where Walz went on an anti-gun tirade about weapons of war. He said he carried one—he did not.
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There were many times when he could have corrected the record about his service and rank upon retirement, and Mr. Walz did nothing. Not a single member of his unit has come to defend him. Walz’s former Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin went on CNN and delivered a damning interview about Walz knowing his unit was going to be deployed six-to-seven months in advance before he opted to retire. Now, his former commanding officer, John Kolb, has taken to social media and torched the Minnesota liberal on the stolen valor controversy:
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“I do not regret that Tim Walz retired early from the Minnesota Army National Guard, did not complete the Sergeants Major Academy, broke his enlistment contract or did not successfully complete any assignment as a Sergeant Major.”
“Unwittingly, he got out of the way for better leadership. Thomas Behrends was the right leader at the right time. He sacrificed to answer the call, leaving his family, business and farming-partner brother to train, lead and care for soldiers.”
“He earned the privilege of being called Command Sergeant Major. Like a great leader he ran toward and not away from the guns. I have no opinion of Mr. Walz’s decision to leave service at the time he did. It was his right to retire early. I also have no criticism of his service as an E7 and E8 in the MNARNG. By all accounts and on the record, he was a competent Chief of Firing Battery/Gunnery Sergeant and First Sergeant. I cannot say the same of his service sitting, frocked, in the CSM chair.”
“He did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9. It is an affront to the Noncommissioned Officer Corps that he continues to glom onto the title. I can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, it does not make me a pilot.”
“Similarly, when the demands of service and leadership at the highest level got real, he chose another path.”
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Kamala Harris’ campaign had little time to vet the candidates to be her running mate, and it shows.