Tim Walz: Man of Valor?

Valor: Strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; courage; intrepidity; prowess (Noah Webster, 1828).

Image by Fox News via https://www.foxnews.com/us/veteran-who-served-tim-walz-addresses-stolen-valor-accusations-more-top-headlines

Did Governor Tim Walz lie about his time in war and steal valor all in the attempt to embellish his credence for political gain? This is a question that is coming to the forefront for discussion as Governor Tim Walz is campaigning on the Democratic ticket for Vice President.

In 2005, Governor Tim Walz stated he was ready to go to war, “As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on (timwalz.org).” Since the revelation of this quote, the website where it was found is no longer available as seen below.

Why would Gov. Tim Walz need to take this website down (as of August 10, 2024)? Examining the Wayback Machine online has some remnants of timwalz.org left behind, but very little. Ultimately, the above statement would conclude that Gov. Walz was indeed ready to go to war. Yet he retired from the Army National Guard, after 24 years of service, letting his battalion get deployed to Iraq without him.

This led to him not retaining the position of Command Sergeant Major because he did not complete the required training due to his retirement (Collis, 2024). Yet, it has not stopped Gov. Walz from using that title and this has led to many accounts claiming he has stolen valor. He claims a wrong attainment of position as well as claiming he carried weapons into war. He misconstrued his position in the military upon retirement, as well as lied about going into war, stated Representative Pete Stauber (Barron, 2024).

In a recorded video, Gov. Walz states that he carried weapons of war 'into war', however he in fact never went to war during his time enlisted in the Army National Guard. As seen in this video.

This brings Gov. Walz’s credibility into question on why he would lie about something as heroic as going into war. His battalion member, Tim Schilling, who served with Gov. Tim Walz stated that, “Walz ‘ditched’ him and other soldiers before they were deployed to Iraq in 2005” (Clark et al., 2024).

Article written by: Dr. Brittney Henkel

August 10, 2024

References:

Barron, S. (2024, August). Rep. Pete Stauber to Newsmax: Gov. Tim Walz lied to America. Newsmax. https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/stolen-valor-tim-walz-democrat/2024/08/08/id/1175742/

Clark, J., Halon, Y., & Griffin, J. (2024, August). Former member of Gov. Walz’s battalion says he ‘ditched’ them, accuses Walz of ‘stolen valor’. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-member-gov-walzs-battalion-ditched-accuses-walz-stolen-valor

Collis, B. (2024, August). Just in: National guard confirms Tim Walz was demoted, lied about rank. Politico. https://trendingpolitico.com/just-in-national-guard-confirms-tim-walz-was-demoted-lied-about-rank/

Fox News. (2024, August 8). Judge Jeanine: Kamala’s running mate is embroiled in growing scandal [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AsbaDyP_Tc

Noah Webster. (1828). Noah Webster’s first edition of an American dictionary of the English language.  (1967 ed.). Foundation for American Christian Education.