Vance & Walz Battle it Out

The Trump team couldn’t wait to find dirt on Walz to dig up. The only thing they could find was… he left the military before his unit deployed?

Republicans seem to be drawing much of their slanderous remarks from this PAID attack ad dated November 2, 2018. Who are Paul Herr and Thomas Behrends? Are they real people? If they are, did they say what they did because they received monetary compensation to do so?

In contrast, many who served with Walz are making opposite statements in support of Walz’s actions, although there is conflicting information about how sure or not sure the unit was about whether they would be deployed to Iraq. Walz must have had his suspicions, though, because on March 20, 2005, his campaign put out a press release titled Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq. He had filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10 of that year.

Walz isn’t all innocence. He had been promoted to Command Sergeant Major before he left the military, but he was later reduced to Master Sergeant. He continued to claim the higher rank until recently, when he was rightfully called out about it.

Republicans have accused Walz of claiming to see combat, but Walz never said he did. He carried, fired and trained others to use weapons, but he never said he was in a combat zone.

In an October 3, 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio, he said, “I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that. I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else”.

Those who are interested can listen to all the Minnesota Public Radio interviews with Walz in their archives.

Walz’s Military Record:

• 1981 Enlisted in Nebraska Army National Guard and completed a 12-week Army infantry basic training course before graduating from high school.
• 1985 Enrolled in the University of Houston and was reclassified as a field artillery cannoneer in the Texas Army National Guard
• 1987 Returned to Nebraska’s Guard detachment, continuing field artillery assignments while completing a college degree.
• 1996 Transferred to the Minnesota Army National Guard.
• 2003 Deployed to Italy in a support position of active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• 2005 Retired after 24 years of military service to run for political office.

Walz’s Military Record:

• 2003: Enlisted in the Marine Corps
• 2003 to 2007: Served as a combat correspondent
• 2005: Deployed to Iraq for a few months, where he continued as a correspondent.
• 2007: Left the military

Like Walz, Vance never saw combat, and like Walz, never claimed he did. In fact, Vance stated in his memoir* that he was happy to have escaped combat duty.

Trump’s Military Record:

Oh wait. He doesn’t have one. He kept finding ways to dodge the draft and later bragged about it.

 
**This post contains an affiliate link, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.