The Swiftboating of Walz is Sick, Inacurate, and Will Fail

Weak men attack stronger men to make themselves feel better

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As anyone who has served in the military knows, there are often good-spirited jokes about other branches and jobs. The Air Force gets called the “Chair Force” (we love this, actually), the Marines get called dumb, and so on. While not true, these jokes keep interservice rivalries lively and everyone on their toes. In general, we all respect each other and understand that whether you are kicking down doors, flying planes, gassing vehicles, or cooking food, you are willing to do what 98 percent of the country isn’t: serve for a cause above all others. This makes the attacks on Tim Walz, particularly from JD Vance, especially sickening.

JD Vance was an enlisted Marine who served honorably. While he didn’t see combat (he was in public affairs), he still deployed and served his nation as expected. He got out at the end of his service commitment and did not make it a 20-year career. Tim Walz joined the Army Guard and served honorably for 24 years, achieving the highest enlisted rank offered. That is quite an accomplishment. The nation should be proud, and JD Vance should be respectful of his fellow warrior.

The attacks on Walz have proven to be not only false but also disgusting. I will debunk the attacks that have been floating around. But first and foremost, keep one thing in mind: Donald Trump not only didn’t serve in the military, he actively avoided service by claiming he had “bone spurs.” With him, everything is a projection, and he’s projecting his cowardice onto others, in this case, Gov. Walz.

First Lie: Governor Walz quickly exited the military after learning he was going to deploy, thereby leaving his men out to dry.

Truth: Gov. Walz actually put in his paperwork for retirement before any deployments were alerted. In fact, he served for four years AFTER 9/11 and two years after the Iraq war. He did not leave at the first sign of combat. He stayed well past when he could have retired at 20 years.

Even if he had learned of a deployment and then retired (he didn’t), there were countless people during that time who were retirement eligible and left when deployments were on the horizon. After 20 years of serving, it was their right, and who could fault them?

Lie: Gov. Walz left his men without leadership.

Truth: His unit was fully staffed and had adequate leadership without him. In fact, had the unit not had appropriate staffing, they could have denied his retirement and ordered a “stop loss,” which happened to thousands of military members in jobs that needed people. Stop loss was used regularly and would have been enacted if the situation deemed it.

Lie: Gov. Walz never made Chief Master Sgt.

Truth: He was a CMSGT for a few years, and after retiring, was only demoted because he had not completed his professional military education and hadn’t served in that rank long enough to retire in it. To retire at a rank, you must have held it for three years. I retired as a Lt Colonel; had I retired before being an LTC for three years, I would have reverted to the previous rank of Major. There is no dishonor in this; it happens all the time. I still would hold the title of LTC.

In fact, in the Army aviation branch, many officers resign their commissions to become warrant officers, a lower rank, so they can keep flying and do less desk work. This is common in the Army National Guard, and just because they did that doesn’t mean it was a scandalous demotion.

The attacks from anyone, especially the coward Trump, are a disservice not just to Gov. Walz but to anyone who served in uniform. Now, any military member thinking of running for office could be dissuaded because who knows how any part of your military record could be twisted or distorted to make your service look less than honorable.

We have a pandemic in this country of weak men attacking stronger men to feel better about themselves and to denigrate military service to make their own lack of service not appear so self-serving or cowardly. It bodes darkly for the future, and we must push back against this with everything we have. Serving in the military is honorable and must be seen as such, regardless of the veteran’s party affiliation.

Finally, JD Vance got out after his initial enlistment. If we wanted to play his game, we could say he left his country out to dry by not reenlisting, and if he was a real hero, he would have stayed. Of course, I don’t mean that, he served honorably, but it’s equivalent to what they are doing to Gov. Walz now. And it makes me sick.