Is Tim Walz, Minnesota Governor and Democrat Vice Presidential designee (not nominee) guilty of the crime of Stolen Valor? Indisputably, yes, he is.
Will Walz, or “Fraudie Murphy” as Derek Hunter aptly dubbed him, ever be prosecuted for this crime despicably heinous to his fellow veterans? Of course not. Gross failures such at the total lack of planning and leadership by Department of Defense for the dramatically bungled and deadly to 13 American service members, retreat from Afghanistan, or the unbelievable Secret Service failures to protect former President Trump on July 13, 2024, at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally when he was nearly assassinated. No, the Biden/Harris administration infamously continues to fail to hold any of their minions or cabinet members accountable for failures.
Liberal “fact checkers” with obviously no experience or understanding of our military continue to cover for Walz and excuse his stolen valor with a variety of ignorant blatantly inaccurate statements. Let us set the record straight.
Walz should and has been commended for his 24 years of service in the Minnesota National Guard (MN NG). That does not mean he served adequately or competently as he rose in rank.
There exists a well documented litany of sub-standard service and blatant lies by Walz and others inexplicably defending this dud.
In 1995, when presumably Walz was a low-ranking National Guard soldier, he was arrested for DUI, reckless driving and excessive speeding. If he had been in an active army unit or a competently administered state national guard, he would have automatically been discharged from further service due to his crimes. Instead he was continued as a soldier and only fined $200.
Walz continued his military service rising to the position of Command Sergeant Major (CSM) in the 1st of the 125th Field Artillery Battalion. This is the highest enlisted rank and the critical enlisted leadership position in any army unit. Walz was only “frocked” or temporarily promoted to CSM conditional on his mandatory completion of the two-year college-level Sergeant Majors Academy and thereafter successfully serving two years as a CSM.
In March 2005, Walz and his battalion were given notice (Warning Order) that they would be deployed to Iraq. In May, Walz resigned his with two years yet to serve on his contract and from the MN NG. In July 2005, his battalion was deployed without Walz who despicably deserted his post and abandoned his soldiers. Walz actions were not in keeping with the dedication and sacrifice expected of a senior Noncommissioned Officer, particularly a CSM.
Waltz battalion commander at the time stated, “…(Walz) broke his enlistment contract and did not successfully complete any assignment as a Sergeant Makor…he did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9.”
Two MN NG Command Sergeant Majors, Thomas Behrends, and Paul Herr, who served with Sergeant Walz agreed with their commander in his condemnation of Walz.
As an infantry battalion commander following our Los Angeles Riots deployment, I relieved and replaced my CSM for similar failures.
Walz, upon requested discharge from the MN NG, was retired in the rank of Master Seargent ((E-8) having never fulfilled the duties of a qualified Command Sergeant Major (E-9). To represent himself as a retired Command Sergeant Major is a gross insult to all soldiers and is indeed Stolen Valor.
As a freshman congressman in 2007, Walz was introduced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who called him a CSM who served in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (Afghanistan war). Walz spoke following her introduction and did not correct the misinformation.
Walz produced and distributed as a congressman his personal challenge coin emblazoned with the insignia of a Command Sergeant Major.
Walz official website as a congressman and as Minnesota governor his official biography today includes: “After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005.”
Walz was deployed with is unit to serve as a security mission in Italy in 2003-2004. The unit he and is unit supported was the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the army contingency response force in Europe. Walz misrepresented this duty as, “…in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM.”
In 2018, Walz stated on a well-circulated video clip: “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” Walz again intentionally misrepresented that he ever served in a combat zone and carried an automatic weapon in war.
Severely aggravating the deadly George Floyd 2020 riots in Minnesota, Governor Walz significantly and disastrous encouraged the “peaceful” rioters while he intentionally delayed the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey’s request to deploy the MN National Guard stating, “… (the assumption is) We’re going to have massively trained troops.' No, you’re going to have 19-year-olds who are cooks.”
This totally ignorant and evasive statement is extremely insulting to the MN NG soldiers.
I will tell you from personal experience of deploying my more than 700 Infantry soldiers of my battalion to support law enforcement for the LA Riots in 1992 and the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, as well as a half-dozen other armed deployments, the NG soldiers performed in an exemplary manner protecting life and property in Los Angeles while rapidly lowering crime in the city by 90%. Walz well knew that Minnesota NG has over 13,000 troops. Among those are two Military Police Companies, one Infantry battalion, two combined arms battalions, artillery, combat engineer and combat aviation battalions. Hardly only “cooks,” as important as those support troops are to mission success.
I have served over 40 years in uniform. I served as commander on a number of domestic emergencies leading armed National Guard soldiers, and four years after initial military retirement in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. I served in the billets (job assignments) of both a Major General (2-star) in peace time and a Brigadier General (1-star) in combat. I have NEVER claimed those ranks as permanent as has the totally dishonorable, dishonest, opportunist, and abject failure as a leader Tim Walz.
Democrats disgracefully want to see this criminal of Stolen Valor, Walz elected to be our Vice President and one heartbeat from the control of the nuclear trigger. Such advocacy is disgraceful and irrational to the extreme.
Bill Wenger is a retired commercial real estate executive, college professor, and U.S. Army Infantry Airborne Ranger Colonel. He voluntarily served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan after initial military retirement. He served 42 years commissioned service. He earned five Master’s Degrees and has taught National Strategic Planning, the Operational Level of Warfare, business and U.S. History. His latest book is on Amazon: The Key to American Independence: Quantifying Foreign Assistance to the American Revolution.