| BFR said: Uh-oh, could this be Swift Boat 2024? "A veteran who served with Harris running mate Gov. Tim Walz accused him of embellishing his time in the service and abandoning his unit just before they deployed. In an interview Wednesday on "The Ingraham Angle," Ret. Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz's battalion, scolded the Minnesota governor for misleading the American public about his military career. His service concluded when he retired from his unit in the Minnesota National Guard right before they deployed to Iraq in 2005, the New York Post reported." |
Some of Walz’s fellow retired Guardsmen have also disputed the characterizations: Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz and described him as “a very caring person” and “very good leader” to Minnesota Public Radio in 2018, explained that Walz retired so he could run for Congress in 2006 and had been weighing the decision before the deployment was announced.
Man Who Served Under Tim Walz Says Governor Retired Before Deployment News
Joseph Eustice, a 32-year veteran of the guard who led the same battalion as Walz, said the governor fulfilled his duty. "He was a great soldier," Eustice said. "When he chose to leave, he had every right to leave." Eustice said claims to the contrary are ill-informed and possibly sour grapes by a soldier who was passed over for the promotion to command sergeant major that went to Walz.
"I love him as a soldier; I don't care much for him as a politician," Eustice said of Walz. Eustice said he recalled talking to Walz in 2005 when they were at Camp Ripley. He said Walz told him he was thinking about resigning the guard and running for Congress. "The man did nothing wrong with when he chose to leave the service; he didn't break any rules," he said. DFL Ramsey County Commissioner Trista MatasCastillo, another Guard veteran who served at the same time as Walz but didn't know him, called attacks on the governor's service "disgusting."
Walz didn't leave to avoid the Iraq War, he left to run for Congress, as other former veterans explain.
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This line of attack won't stick, especially from the ticket running a draft dodger. Walz served his time in the army, 24 years. I don't know what stick up his ass that Thomas Behrends has but Walz would have submitted his paperwork before even receiving orders to deploy to Iraq and quite frankly, even if he did leave to avoid being deployed to Iraq...A lot of people in 2024 would understand his decision since it's a fairly unpopular war nowadays.
