Tim Walz embellished his military service record

[RDKirk]

Really! Can we deal with actual facts here. Walz also never carried a gun in combat unless there was some conflict in Italy that didn’t make the news. The campaign is well ahead of some of the posters on this thread who are defending this stolen valor. They are now trying to figure out how to clean up this mess. Diversion is not an effective tactic in covering Walz’s embellishments.

Walz has said outright that he was never in combat. Nothing in his record says he was in combat. Any soldier can look at the decorations on his chest and see that he was never in combat, so that's not something he'd dare even lie about.

I'm a Vietnam Era veteran. Notice, I said "Vietnam Era veteran," not "Vietnam veteran." I did my Vietnam time in Thailand, which is where the SR-71 operated from for Vietnam missions. That's the kind of distinction we make.

 

[Fantine]

The more this goes on, all I can think is, "they've been investigating him like crazy and this is all they can find?" One Google search would yield hundreds of scandals on their top candidate, and it would take 5 seconds.
It makes me think: What a dad! What a coach! What a soldier! What a governor!
I have definite governor envy. A meme shows Walz being group hugged by school children. "This governor gives kids free breakfast and lunch." Then my governor, surrounded by solemn kids. "This governor defunds schools, bans books, and abolished child labor laws "

 

[RDKirk]

That is part of the problem here. Any thinking person knows the implication was that he was a combat veteran to help his political resume. He claimed he retired as a Command Sergeant Major, he did not, he served as one and because he did not complete his sign up commitment he did NOT retire as one. He abandoned the men under his command when he learned he was to be deployed. Those are facts. He served and that is honorable but lying about that service is dishonorable and he will have to answer for it in this campaign. All of the spin to cover his embellishments only show a lack of credibility,

He was "frocked" as a CSM when he retired. Being frocked to a higher rank until retirement happens all the time with generals, and everything except their DD-214 will show them as having retired at the rank they had been frocked to, even though it matters much more with generals than it does with enlisted men.

This really isn't a big deal. And he certainly didn't "abandon the men under his command" to have retired before they even received deployment orders. He was a sergeant...in the military, he had nobody "under his command." His commander had people "under his command." That's some silly civilian shizzle that most military men would scoff at, and if a military man said it, it would only be to a civilian because another soldier would laugh at him.

 

[Vambram]

@RDKirk
In the US Army, the senior NCOs such as platoon sergeants, first sergeants, and command sergeant majors definitely have as much, if not more,... influence and command over the enlisted soldiers than do the lieutenants, captains, majors, LT. Colonels, and other commanding officers. And I am saying that as an NCO who has been in active duty army and now the National Guard for 27 years. You and I may disagree about how much "command" and influence that senior NCOs have within an enlisted soldiers chain of command. However, that disagreement is probably because of the different units and methods of leadership which you and I were in throughout our military careers.


As for as Tim Walz, my friends and fellow Americans, I am much more disgusted with his progressive liberal far left record as governor of Minnesota than I am about his claim to be a retired Command Sergeant Major. This stolen valor discussion was interesting, and informative. I am grateful to read the different points of view. For the rest of this election cycle, it is clear to me that we ought to focus on the political record of Walz, Harris, Trump and Vance. Their policies and their public record of actions within their time as politicians ought to be our focus, in my opinion.

 

[RDKirk]

@RDKirk
In the US Army, the senior NCOs such as platoon sergeants, first sergeants, and command sergeant majors definitely have as much, if not more,... influence and command over the enlisted soldiers than do the lieutenants, captains, majors, LT. Colonels, and other commanding officers. And I am saying that as an NCO who has been in active duty army and now the National Guard for 27 years. You and I may disagree about how much "command" and influence that senior NCOs have within an enlisted soldiers chain of command. However, that disagreement is probably because of the different units and methods of leadership which you and I were in throughout our military careers.

I'm not unaware...I spent my last decade with soldiers, Marines, and sailors.

But, nah, I just define "command" the way military law defines it. "Influence" is a different matter, much more a matter depth of personal contact. But "command' is a legal term.

 

[Vambram]

I'm not unaware...I spent my last decade with soldiers, Marines, and sailors.

But, nah, I just define "command" the way military law defines it. "Influence" is a different matter, much more a matter depth of personal contact. But "command' is a legal term.

Then, shall we agree to disagree agreeably. and move on to much more important political and policy matters concerning Harris & Walz?

 

[Fantine]

You are disgusted with Walz' record, but his constituents are 3rd happiest in the country. They are 5th in attracting new business ( I guess happy, fairly paid people are productive.)

 

[Vambram]

Please provide evidence of those claims, @Fantine

 

[Fantine]

https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/xk6kum

 

[Fantine]

CNBC Ranks Minnesota 5th Best State for Business

(KNSI) - Financial news channel CNBC has ranked Minnesota as the fifth best state for business in the country....

knsiradio.com

 

[Vambram]

Thank you, @Fantine

It looks like to me that progressive left liberals are happy to live in Minnesota which has progressive left wing policies. Are the residents of Minneapolis also happy with their city from 2020 through 2024? I think that is a good question for a new thread.

 

[DaisyDay]

I disagree. The ones who started calling Walz out about all this are two retired CSM from the Minnesota Army National Guard. Those two senior NCOs know Walz a lot better than any of us do.

How much were they paid?

 

[probinson]

Most of the discussion in this thread has been surrounding the timing of Walz's retirement. But I'm more interested in understanding the rank he identifies himself by on his biography page. It's also worth nothing that the Harris campaign changed the wording of his biography on their campaign page.

This is how the biography of Tim Walz read at the beginning of the day today:

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240808003432/https://kamalaharris.com/meet-governor-tim-walz/


This is how it reads after a stealth edit today:

Source: Meet Governor Tim Walz - Kamala Harris for President: Official Campaign Website

This would seem to be a tacit admission from the Harris campaign that Walz, who has frequently referred to himself as a retired Command Sergeant Major throughout his political career, has been *ahem* embellishing his rank.

 

[Vambram]

How much were they paid?

Paid by whom?

 

[probinson]

Here is a video from 2009 of a veteran confronting one of Walz's staffers regarding stolen valor, showing him that Walz falsely claimed he was a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

[probinson]

Here is a video of Walz in 2009 misrepresenting himself as "retired Command Sergeant Major".

 

[probinson]

Here is a video of Walz in 2006, again misrepresenting himself as a "retired Command Sergeant Major".

 

[JosephZ]

Here is a video from 2009 of a veteran confronting one of Walz's staffers regarding stolen valor, showing him that Walz falsely claimed he was a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Walz is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

[probinson]

Here is a photo of Walz (right) holding a sign strongly implying that he is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

[probinson]

Here is Walz's announcement that he was running for the House in the newspaper, again misrepresented as "retiring as a Command Sergeant Major".