JD Vance questions Tim Walz's military record, accusing the governor of ‘stolen valor’

While there's no evidence that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is guilty of such a crime, there are questions about how Walz has talked about his service, including claims that he carried a gun "in war," when he never saw active combat.

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[jujubees]

Walz was in the National Guard for 24 years.
Vance served 4 years in the Marines in the Public Affairs office. He boasts about being sent to Iraq. He was sent to Iraq as a correspondent for 6 months. He was not in combat. I will take Walz 24 year commitment over Vance's 4 years any day.

[ysteindrivflaadt]

So a corporal with 4 years of desk duty picks on a commanding sergeant major with 24 years of service? I’d say that’s asking for trouble.

[johndavies]

A csm is an E-9. NOT an E-8. He positionally served as a CSM, but NEVER achieved the corresponding paygrade (E-9). Hence, he can NOT be a retired CSM. JD is yes a pog, but still actually WENT to Iraq. Even noncombat personnel can end up seeing action and giving the ultimate sacrifice. Let's not forget who was in charge (JB and KH) during the terrible withdrawal from Afghanistan which caused the loss of life of 13 of our young service members. Rank doesn't matter and length of service doesn't quite matter when there are 20 year old E-3s walking around with a PH and a CAR (USN/USMC). Saw some of the bravest young MEN with crazy awards and service within 3 years as opposed to "career" generals and SNCOs with no such honors. -Former 8404 Corpsman with 3rd Btn 7th Marines 2010.

[iamgood]

J. Deceiver Vance has been presenting himself as other than what he is all along. He calls himself a combat correspondent when in reality he was a public affairs specialist, someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent’ gives a different impression. Yet Vance maintains the facade. You hypocrite Vance, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from Walz's eye. If Vance was not such a coward he would have re upped and not abandoned his fellow marines.

[daveburrows]

Ever notice how a thief accuses everyone else of theft? "Do not pretend to be something you are not" is great advice for a chameleon to be giving.

[bramwellt]

His running mate is a f*cking draft dodger.

[SenorJuan]

I question Vance as a VP pick, esp. considering Trump's age and health. Vance is not the least big qualified and that should be mentioned EVERY DAY. Two years in the Senate? Give me a break!

[arthurplant]

As a combat veteran, Gov. Walz shouldn't justify his military service from a journalist and draft dodger who called American's POW losers.

[bretthaines]

Wait until he hears about Trump's bone spurs 🤡

[YooperICE]

Shady Vance looks and acts like a chuckie doll.

[TEXAS_Gil]

Tim Walz served 24 years and achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major (E-8). He served his country with distinction, and even suffered hearing loss from exposure to heavy artillery.
Vance only served 4 years, and only achieved the rank of corporal (E-4). Military life was too tough for him, so he quit. (This short-timer, "jumped ship", after his easy time at Cherry Point).
For JD Vance to talk about "stolen valor" is like a butter knife claiming to be a weapon, Vance was a REMF, who stayed behind the lines, writing stories and shooting "pictures". What valor?

[lenrey]

How much active combat did Donald Trump see?

[FerrisBFerris]

Vance needs to answer why he didn't reenlist in 2007. The surge was happening and the military needed every soldier they could get.
He abandoned his fellow Marines right when they needed his typewriter the most 😂😂😂

[ceocommunications]

Tim makes me sick. I was deployed to Iraq and I know what it means to carry a gun of war!

[AFVetteran]

I can't stand guys like JD Vance who bash other Veterans who served with this bullshit, "my service was greater than yours" mentality.

[tomb]

Having gone through basic training, the guys who are just wimps, and aren’t infantry material are a danger to their fellow soldiers. So, they give them disk jobs so they don’t hurt them selves or others. Like corresponder Vance.

[Truthinplain]

Just wait till the veterans confront him

[lisatbury]

When your policy proposals are not popular, you have a very short record of public service and related experience compared to your opponents, your frontrunner dodged a draft, your frontrunner sat and watched Jan 6th without doing a thing, and there is an abundance of your own previous videos, book forwards, statements and public speeches that are a liability to your own ticket, you kind of need to throw a lot at your opponents to see what sticks, regardless of ethics, morals, or factually correct information.

[OurGang]

Vance’s claim that Walz abandoned his unit to avoid deployment to Iraq — which has been echoed throughout the right — was directly countered by Army Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman, director of operations for the Minnesota National Guard, who spoke to HuffPost.

The unit “received an alert order for mobilization to Iraq on July 14, 2005, ” Rossman said, two months after Walz retired. According to CNN, Walz first filed his paperwork to run for Congress in January of that same year, and — as several veterans have noted — the administrative process of a military retirement typically takes several months before approval. His unit would not deploy to Iraq until March 2006.

Vance also accused Walz of feigning a record in active combat: “[Walz] said — and he was making a point about gun control — he said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when you ever in war?”

The senator actually misquoted Walz in his screed. In the clip Vance was referencing, Walz says that he “carried” weapons of war, not that he “used” them, and that “in war is the only place where those weapons are at.” Given that Operation Enduring Freedom was a part of the post-9/11 War on Terror, and that Walz was deployed to Italy under it and likely had a service weapon, the claim that he is engaging in “stolen valor” holds little water.

Vance spoke as if he served more honorably than Walz, noting that he went to Iraq. “I did it, I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably, ” he said The senator was deployed for six months in Iraq as a combat correspondent in 2005 as part of the Marines’ Public Affairs office. He — like Walz — never engaged in active combat and has stated that he was “lucky to escape any real fighting” during his deployment.

In 2022, former battalion commander Joseph Eustice, who served with Walz, told the Star Tribune that the accusations against Walz stemmed from ill-informed or “sour-grapes” soldiers who were passed over for promotions. “He was a great soldier, ” Eustice told the Tribune. “When he chose to leave, he had every right to leave … The man did nothing wrong when he chose to leave the service; he didn’t break any rules.”

[CNone-pfbf]

Why are you lending credence to JD Vance. He's a tiny little man, with a tiny little mind and an even smaller heart.