Tim Walz, the Democratic Governor of Minnesota. According to Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Tom Behrends, a fellow NCO in the Minnesota Army National Guard, Walz avoided deployment to Iraq nearly two decades ago. Behrends claimed that Walz would “still be hiding under his desk” if he had not dodged the deployment.
In a 2022 interview with Alpha News, Behrends, who served a two-year deployment in Iraq, accused Walz of displaying “pathetic” leadership and abandoning his men, ultimately leading to “stolen valor.”
Behrends’ interview painted Walz as an opportunist who shirked his duty. “As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq, he turned and ran the other way and hung his hat up and quit,” Behrends said. It’s important to note that Walz never actually deployed to Iraq.
In 2005, the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery received a mobilization order for Iraq. Walz, holding a conditional command sergeant major rank, retired and ran for Congress before the deployment, leaving Behrends to take his place.
Despite not meeting the conditions to retire as a command sergeant major, Walz used the title. Behrends expressed concern in a letter to Walz, stating, “I would hope that you haven’t been using the rank for political gain, but that is how it appears.”
“It’s stolen valor is really what it is,” Behrends said in the 2022 interview. Army records showed Walz retired as an E-8 master sergeant, not an E-9 command sergeant major. Behrends described Walz as both a liar and a coward, stating, “If he would’ve went to Iraq, he’d still be hiding under his desk over there, ’cause that’s just the cowardice that I seen portrayed with him.”
Despite his ideological alignment with Harris, Walz adds little to the ticket and highlights Harris’ weaknesses. For instance, just as Walz allegedly stole his retirement rank, Harris secured the Democratic nomination without winning a single presidential primary.
The contrasts between the two tickets could not be more striking. Surely voters still care about courage and merit. However, the exact impact of these dynamics on the 2024 election remains uncertain.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal.