Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz bailed on his unit after being informed that they were going to be deployed to Iraq. That would be fine — he ran for Congress instead — if it weren't for the fact that he keeps suggesting that he's a combat veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan or both.
So now, the libs have to call Walz's direct superior, the chaplain of his unit, AND his battalion commander lying hacks.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 11, 2024
Let's see it guys. Call them liars.
None of these guys have been given interview time on any national media segment or morning show anywhere. @jaketapper, a guy who has made a lot of money on the backs of veterans has not had them on his show. https://t.co/KjTUKaa7dy
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 12, 2024
Guardsman who served with Walz have also written letters about his claims of combat service.
There's no question anymore: Walz retired knowing his battalion was being deployed to Iraq. Fortunately, PolitiFact is there to set the story straight.
J.D. Vance claimed Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz retired from the military to avoid deploying to Iraq. Walz retired to run for Congress before his unit received official deployment orders, records and news reports show. https://t.co/LTDrdW9bQk
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) August 11, 2024
Mostly false?
Vance’s statement misleads by distorting the timeline. Walz had not been "asked by his country to go to Iraq," as Vance said. He had been given a two-year window for a potential, not definite, deployment. And the official deployment notice came after Walz’s retirement.
Walz has said since before his Army retirement that he left to run for Congress. He filed his candidacy paperwork in February 2005, before the March 2005 notification about the potential deployment.
Right, the timeline shows that Walz retired before the order had been given to deploy. Except the order had been given at least a year before. CNN interviewed Walz's former superior, who said, "We had already received our notification of sourcing ...Yes, he had been notified." Then CNN suddenly had technical problems and had to cut off the interview right then.
"On Aug. 3, 2003, Walz and his battalion were deployed to Italy to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. Walz returned to Minnesota in April 2004," PolitiFact reported. We have no doubt that Walz was deployed to Italy, just not to either Iraq or Afghanistan. So yes, he served under Operation Enduring Freedom … in Italy.
PolitiFact somehow thinks this timeline absolves Walz from dropping out of the Army and allowing his unit to go without him. But as we said above, according to just about everybody in his unit, Walz knew they were being deployed.
"In our world, to drop out after a WARNORD [warning order] is issued is cowardly, especially for a senior enlisted guy,” retired Capt. Corey Bjertness, now a pastor in Horace, North Dakota, told the New York Post.
So Vance, along with everyone in the Minnesota Army National Guard is "distorting the timeline."
He abandoned his troops and you have zero credibility.
— JWF (@JammieWF) August 12, 2024
You can't undo this.
Go listen to the CNN interview with his Brigade Command Sergeant Major. Walz was fully aware of the fact that the Department of the Army had sourced his unit for Iraq, he told his boss he would go, and then he jumped the chain of command to avoid deployment.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) August 12, 2024
You guys are flat…
"You guys are flat-out lying."
You guys keep posting this lie. The other members of his unit have already come forward and said that he knew well in advance of his retirement that they were going to be deployed.
— AdamInHTownTX (Not a Neurologist) (@AdamInHTownTX) August 11, 2024
Also, you ignore his stolen valor. Even if he had retired without knowing about his deployment(he…
"Even if he had retired without knowing about his deployment(he knew), he still lied later on about serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq."
You should delete this… It makes y’all look really bad, blatantly lying.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) August 11, 2024
But he was already warned, and if he hadn't pulled strings, he would've been denied his request to retire.
— Jared A. Chambers 🇺🇲 (@C4CEO) August 11, 2024
He knew. That's why he retired, because he had to go to extra lengths to do it.
You're wrong and you know it.
You know about a deployment well before you get official orders. Using that as the crux of the timeline is idiotic and shows a lack of understanding of the topic.
— Ross Schumann (@RossSchumann) August 11, 2024
I know you are on the Harris propaganda team, but there is an enormous amount of evidence from multiple sources that said he knew in the fall they were going to be deployed. You should try some journalism.
— Eric Cook (@Greentownmayor) August 11, 2024
Yes, it was before official deployment orders. But numerous people have testified that (as is always the case), they were notified that they were being deployed well before the final official orders were issued.
— Willis Eschenbach (@WEschenbach) August 12, 2024
He knew. Don't kid yourselves. He knew and he ran away.
w.
No matter how many times you post this the facts remain the same. The only fact you clearly established is @Tim_Walz was likely aware of his units planned mobilization before he retired.
— David S Brenchley (@DSBrenchley) August 11, 2024
Walz knew about the deployment orders well in advance of him signing the retirement papers. It just wasn't publicly announced until later. Walz's superior has confirmed this.
— Karl Wright (@DaddyWri) August 12, 2024
You're pushing falsehoods and claiming to be "fact checkers". Shame.
It's been proven that he knew about the deployment long before the "official" notice was made, which is commonplace. He chose politics over deployment.
— GenXJoJo (@Elevate_JRiden) August 12, 2024
That's it — he chose politics over deployment. He knew full well that his unit was being deployed when he filed his retirement papers. PolitiFact and the rest of the mainstream media can keep saying he didn't know, but he knew.
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