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As Day 22 unfolds without a media appearance, interview or press conference by either Kamala Harris or Tim Walz, the race to define the two Democrats at the top of the ticket by everyone else continues.
Video clips continue to surface from appearances on C-SPAN and Hardball to radio commercials voiced by Walz himself claiming the rank of Command Sergeant Major, a rank that was conditional based on deployment he refused to accept.
Over the weekend, another incident of alleged stolen valor popped up in regards to the 20th anniversary of 9/11 ceremony on the steps of the state capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The 4-plus hour event held on 9/11/2021 featured speeches by Senator Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, whom I am informed also is a senator of the Gopher State, and the keynote address given by Governor Tim Walz.
The emcee and host of the event was Tom Lyons, a Vietnam Air Force veteran who is the host of Minnesota Military Radio on KROC out of Rochester. Lyons, like most emcees, read the scripted bios of all of the speakers. When it came time for Governor Walz, here’s how Lyons introduced him.
Now we get to the speech Gov. Walz actually gave. Online, it’s become somewhat of a Rorschach test of what he meant to say. It’s worth watching and listening to his words and drawing your own conclusions about what you think he meant to imply. Then, we’ll come back and give you context to really muddy it all up.
On first listen, one is left with the impression that he is an Afghanistan war veteran. He compares the feeling of watching the loading of remains on the tarmac at Afghanistan with those in the audience who actually were serving at Bagram in Afghanistan during that long war.
Of course, the red warning light began flashing because Tim Walz never deployed to Afghanistan in his stint with the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. In fact, that unit deployed twice in relation to Operation Iraqi Freedom, in and around Iraq, but did not deploy to Afghanistan. That’s a problem.
Of course, Walz chose to leave the Guard earlier than he planned to once he learned that they were likely to deploy to Iraq. It was this earlier-than-anticipated retirement that cost him the command sergeant major rank he’s nevertheless traded on dozens of time since leaving military service. Walz’ immediate superior officer, Col. John Kolb, has gone on record as to his thoughts about Walz bugging out ahead of schedule.
Tim Walz’s battalion commander and direct supervisor, Colonel John Kolb, shares his thoughts pic.
