Two high-ranking former military officers have come forward alleging that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is guilty of the crime of “stolen valor,” or impersonating a veteran in order to obtain tangible benefits.

In a 2018 endorsement letter to West Central Tribune newspaper of Willmar, MN, retired Command Sergeant Majors Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr shared their lengthy experiences with Gov. Walz during his time in the state’s National Guard. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris selected the state’s chief executive to be her running mate, propelling him to the front of the Democratic Party’s leadership while also putting him in the crosshairs of critics back home. In deeply personal terms, Behrends and Herr both describe a pattern of disregard for procedures by Gov. Walz and ultimately chose to run his successful 2018 campaign for office on the back of military service that he failed to complete.

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“Tim Walz has embellished and selectively omitted facts and circumstances of his military career for years,” the men wrote. “We, retired Command Sergeants Major of the Minnesota National Guard, feel it is our duty and responsibility to bring forth the truth as we know it concerning his service record. So, we have put together a timeline of his service post 9/11.” Going on, they claim to have spoken with many individuals who knew Walz following his decision to enlist in the Guard at the age of 26.

In 2005, one year after he had been promoted to Command Sergeant Major of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, Gov. Walz left his soldiers “hanging” as they were called up for the Iraq war. “His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress,” the retired sergeant majors write. “Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“If he had retired normally and respectfully, you would think he would have ensured his retirement documents were correctly filled out and signed, and that he would have ensured he was reduced to Master Sergeant for dropping out of the academy. Instead he waited for the paperwork to catch up to him. His official retirement document states, SOLDIER NOT AVAILABLE FOR SIGNATURE.”

As a result, they continued, Walz was demoted to Master Sergeant. “It took a while for the system to catch up to him as it was uncharted territory, literally no one quits in the position he was in, or drops out of the academy. Except him,” they added. “In November 2006 he was elected to the House of Representatives. He claims to be the highest-ranking enlisted service member ever to serve in Congress,” a statement made while his battalion was deployed overseas for 22 months, a time when they were restricted by Army regulations from endorsing or opposing political candidates for office. “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge,” Behrends and Herr concluded.

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“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening… The bottom line in all of this is gut wrenching and sad to explain. When the nation called, he quit. He failed to complete the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. He failed to serve for two years following completion of the academy, which he dropped out of. He failed to serve two years after the conditional promotion to Command Sergeant Major. He failed to fulfill the full six years of the enlistment he signed on September 18th, 2001. He failed his country. He failed his state. He failed the Minnesota Army National Guard, the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, and his fellow Soldiers. And he failed to lead by example. Shameful.”

Walz’s personal history will surely be chronicled by national media in the coming days and weeks, but the letter is an opening salvo in the opposition research that will soon be released by Republicans eager to blunt Harris’s rise in the polls. Already, conservative influencers and the wife of a longtime Minnesota Vikings star have spoken out about the governor’s presiding over the violent Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, a period that left Minneapolis in strife and under siege.

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