Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s entry into the presidential race as Kamala Harris’ running mate marks the first time in 20 years that either party has had a former soldier on the ballot. Based on what we saw today, Democrats will make a massive deal out of his service. In particular, they will insist that he is the “highest ranking soldier to ever serve in Congress.” You can see the email was sent.
Excellent story/resume – longest serving soldier in Congress, high school football coach, adviser to a school’s first gay-straight alliance, teacher, congressman from a Trump district, damn good attack dog, great governor… the list goes on.
Now let’s win this thing! https://t.co/30PcMhSQgp
— Jim Messina (@Messina2012) 6 August 2024
Tim Walz is a:
– Veteran
– Former teacher
– Football coach with national championships
– Faculty advisor of the first gay-straight alliance at his school
– Gun owners
– Highest-ranking retired soldier to ever serve in CongressNot to mention that he has more charisma in his… https://t.co/6esaHLgd9G
— BW Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) 6 August 2024
A very frosty fact about Tim Walz: He is the highest-ranking soldier to ever serve in Congress.
– Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) 6 August 2024
Interesting fact: Tim Walz was the highest-ranking soldier to ever serve in Congress pic.twitter.com/mqfjFlV9pd
— Republicans Against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) 6 August 2024
Walz’s veteran status is intended to give Kamala a Connection for veterans. The designation “highest ranking soldier” is intended to give it a popular touch.
While I don’t necessarily believe that military service qualifies anyone for anything—Frederick the Great is said to have said, “I had a donkey follow me on a dozen campaigns, and at the end he was still a donkey”—I do believe that the nature of the service can tell us a lot about a person.
Let’s look at JD Vance first. He had a arduous childhood. He registered He joined the US Marine Corps in 2003 at the age of 18. He served for four years as a journalist, including a stint in Iraq. His motivation for joining was that he believed – like millions of us – that liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein would make the world a better place.
Tim Walz was the son of a school administrator and a housewife. He had the advantages of a stable and somewhat privileged upbringing. According to Wikipedia,
With the encouragement of his father, Walz registered with the Army National Guard when he turned 17.[10][13] His father served in the Korean War and financed his studies with the GI Bill,[13] and wanted his son to have the same chance.[13]
Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard and retired at the rank of master sergeant. Many social media posts claim he was a command sergeant major, the highest rank, but that’s not true, for all the reasons my colleague Matt Funicello explains in UPDATED: MN Gov. Tim Walz accused by former colleagues of cowardice and whitewashing his service record. Oops. I guess that was a spoiler alert.
Right from the start, their careers diverge.
Vance enlisted in the USMC, knowing that this decision would lead him into combat. Fate intervened, and he was not destined to be a 0311a marksman at the keen end of the spear. Not everyone is destined for greatness. During his time in Iraq, he accompanied units as they went “outside the barbed wire fence.” Vance’s former comrades are still speak highly from him, even from those who disagree with his policies.
Walz’s career followed a similar pattern to that of many other youthful men in rural areas of the country before the invasion of Iraq. In some communities, enlisting in the National Guard was a tradition. The “one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer” training schedule was sold by recruiters as car payments. Those who completed training were eligible for VA benefits, including the no-down payment mortgage program. They practiced with friends and neighbors and made many great business and professional contacts. Summer training was not necessarily very strenuous. One National Guard battalion I knew personally used weekend training to go deer hunting. That is not to say that some National Guard units are not rock solid. My division was affiliated with the 47th Infantry Division, the division to which Walz was assigned. On several deployments, my company was assigned men from that division. They were solid and capable, and provided endless fun for land navigation, since their maps (Minnesota and North Dakota) had contour lines at 10 meters and ours (California Coast Range) had contour lines at 50 meters. Of course, the Iraq War confounded the fact that decades-old Muster and Guard units were regularly called into combat operations.
For Walz, the moment of truth came when his unit was deployed to Iraq. As Matt Funicello details, Walz’s tour of duty ended early because he requested early retirement, violated his obligation to complete a training course, and was administratively demoted to a rank.
While Vance was the true volunteer, choosing to serve knowing he would be deployed in Iraq, Walz approached his commitment to receive benefits and improve his chances for career advancement. When Vance was ordered to Iraq, he went. When Walz, the senior noncommissioned officer in his battalion, was also ordered to Iraq, he quit and abandoned his men.
Mister,
When is it the role of the noncommissioned officer to abandon his unit when it is in danger? When is it the role of the noncommissioned officer to fail in a duty of service?
Colonel Michael A. Ford@Davidwebbshow https://t.co/ntkVTPQXHS
— Mike Ford (@MikeFor10394583) 6 August 2024
Don’t be fooled. Not all veterans are the same, and not all military experiences are the same.
