Questions continue to swirl about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s time in the Army National Guard, including allegations he abandoned his fellow troops in their greatest time of need and even claims of stolen valor.
Yesterday, I spoke with Ret. Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends, a veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, who has been sounding the alarm on this story for years (you can watch the interview here). The Harris-Walz campaign and complicit media would have you believe this controversy is all a bunch of nonsense. But Tom Behrends made some stunning allegations, and today I am going to bring you the receipts. Here is what we know.
Walz’s Service
Days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Walz re-enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard. It was a six-year commitment, meaning he was supposed to serve until 2007. He deployed to Italy in late 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (a.k.a. the War in Afghanistan), but he never went to Afghanistan and never saw active combat. His unit was there to support forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Flash forward to February 2005, Walz filed paperwork (above) with the Federal Election Commission to run for Congress.
Just one month later, in March 2005, his campaign put out a press release (above) titled: “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.” At that time, he said, “As Command Sergeant Major, I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington, D.C. or in Iraq.'”
Walz’s Retirement
Two months later, in May 2005, Walz retired from the Minnesota National Guard. This was years before his commitment was due to end.
Now, the media and posts making the rounds on social media (above) point to the fact that the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion received alert orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005 – two months after Walz retired. But that doesn’t change the fact that Walz clearly knew deployment was a possibility when he retired, nor does it change the fact Walz retired early. Those facts are not in dispute.
Walz retired early, even by his own measure. He claims he was allowed to retire at some point in 2005. That is fine. People do retire early sometimes – but not on the eve of being deployed for the first time to the theater of war with the troops you are responsible for.
That is what makes this controversial, and there is no question he did that. His own campaign announcement – months before he retired – acknowledges he knew he was likely to get a deployment notice to Iraq. It shows you he retired and left his unit knowing he was abandoning those men. That is the fact our guest Tom Behrends took real issue with.
His former unit would eventually deploy for 22 months at the height of some of the worst violence Iraq had ever seen. At least three members of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion were killed. And where was Tim Walz? He was sitting in D.C. in Congress.
The Harris campaign will say Walz did his part by serving for 24 years in uniform and then as a tireless advocate for the men and women in our military in the House of Representatives. Fair enough. His record will bear that out or it won’t.
Walz’s Misleading Actions
But Walz also appears to have a history of misleading or, at the very least, not correcting mistakes about his military record.
A 2005 newspaper article (above) about his run for Congress falsely claimed he served in Iraq. He did not serve in Iraq. Did he call the paper up and try to correct that? We could find no correction on the piece.
In 2004, Walz was photographed (above) at a protest carrying a sign reading “Enduring Freedom Veterans for Kerry.” Some argue that insinuates he served in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did not. He served in a supporting role in Italy. In the military, these words matter.
In 2008, Walz endorsed a book titled Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way. This book had a section (above) on Walz that falsely described him as a “National Guardsman who served in Afghanistan.” He endorsed this book. Are we supposed to believe that he didn’t look at that one piece of the book that was about him and say, ‘Hey, I did not serve in Afghanistan. Out of respect for the men who did, that needs to be changed’?
And then there are Walz’s own misleading statements about his rank. The governor is not a “Retired Command Sergeant Major,” as was claimed on Minnesota’s official website, or was referenced in his campaign literature as early as 2005 (below), or as he has said publicly on the record many times over the years.
The Minnesota National Guard confirmed earlier this week that Walz “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.” He held the Command Sergeant Major title provisionally for a short time, but he did not do the two-year training to actually earn it. He quit and retired at a lower rank.
‘Those Are the Facts’
And there is more. Just this week, the Harris-Walz campaign tweeted out a video of Tim Walz from 2018 in which brags about his record on guns and, once again, misstates the facts. “We can research the impacts of gun violence,” he said, in part. “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”
Except, he did not carry weapons in war. He went to Italy in support of the war that was being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. And when it was time for him to carry a weapon and go to Iraq, he quit. Those are the facts.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, himself an Iraq War veteran, has hit Walz hard on this issue. Yesterday, reporters tried to get Walz’s response to the criticism on a tarmac in between campaign stops. He either didn’t hear them or refused to answer.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 858 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.