After much scrutiny over Governor Tim Walz’s military record, since he was chosen to be Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic ticket for the 2024 presidential race, the Harris’ presidential campaign has changed his official bio.
On the campaign website, Walz was referred to as a “retired command sergeant major,” which is not true.
Walz served for 24 years in the National Guard before retiring in 2005.
Walz was promoted to the rank of command sergeant major but was reduced in rank to master sergeant after retirement because he never finished the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
Walz and the Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign have yet to release a statement about misrepresenting his military service but they did quietly redact the campaign website.
“He enlisted in the Army National Guard when he turned 17 and served for 24 years, rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major,” the website says.
The timing of his retirement has also been called into question. In 2005, during the height of the Iraq war, he retired months before his National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq.
Kathy Miller, the mother of a soldier who was killed during his unit’s deployment to Iraq, says he took “the coward’s way out.”
Sgt. Kyle Miller was killed in Iraq while serving in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery unit during their deployment in 2006.
“My son wasn’t even 21 years old. He couldn’t even buy alcohol. Yet he took the step to serve our country while Walz found the best way to run away,” Miller’s mother, Kathy Miller, told the Daily Mail.
Walz has maintained that he retired to run for congress but a 2018 open letter, posted to Facebook by two retired Minnesota National Guard Command Sergeant Majors, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr, claims he quickly retired before the paperwork to reduce his rank for quitting the Sergeants Major Academy could catch up to him.
But not everyone agrees.
Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, described him as “a very caring person” and “very good leader” to Minnesota Public Radio in 2018.
He claims Walz retired so he could run for Congress in 2006 and had already been considering his run for office before the deployment was announced.
Note: The reporting in this story is not intended to endorse any political party or candidates. The Salty Soldier reports stories related to soldiers and veterans.
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