So it’s time to question the military service of Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

But why?

If in doubt, he probably made a slip of the tongue several years ago. These remarks were caught on video when he spoke of “weapons of war” he carried while in the National Guard. In fact, he never served in combat.

And he was criticized for his resignation as sergeant major in 2005 after 24 years of service. Walz’s decision came just months before his National Guard unit was mobilized for deployment to Iraq. It was suggested that he never wanted to set foot in a combat zone or, worse, was simply a spineless coward.

Some of those criticisms came from Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance of Ohio, a Marine Corps veteran who enlisted right out of high school. He served for four years as a combat correspondent, a type of military journalist, and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.

Vance’s comments earlier this month about Walz — who should be ashamed for not serving in Iraq — are themselves shameful. Why? Because there is no evidence that Walz, a former high school social studies teacher and football coach, left the service nearly 20 years ago to avoid being sent to Iraq. He left the service to run for Congress, where, it should be noted, he has championed veterans’ services and many other notable causes over the years.

As an Army veteran and the son of a career officer, I and no one in my household denigrate anyone’s military service. That goes for anyone, man or woman, whether they sit behind a desk working as a Morning Report typist, fill out DOD Form No. 1, work as a military policeman, truck driver, company or battalion commander, Air Force pilot, or ship pilot, or serve in the Army’s elite Delta Force unit, or as part of Navy SEAL Team 6, or as a Marine Corps weapons specialist, or as an officer or noncommissioned officer.

These are all forms of military service and we should honor and respect them. I also respect Senator Vance’s service.

But the senator and author of “Hillbilly Elegy”‘s efforts to smear Walz’s reputation may be old-fashioned, tough American politics. But it also seems to me to be an ill-founded move, given that all he has to do is look left or right onstage while campaigning with a former president who reportedly once referred to U.S. soldiers as “suckers” and “losers.”

Has Vance also forgotten that the former president was exempted from military service five times, once for medically questionable reasons (bone spurs) in order to avoid deployment to Vietnam?

To criticize Walz, who appears to be an honest, straight-talking Midwesterner, a decent man who worked across political lines, is to forget the achievements of another honest, straight-talking Southerner, a decent man, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and former U.S. Navy officer who left the military without ever seeing combat to work on the family farm after his father died: Jimmy Carter.

Like many National Guard members in the early 2000s, Walz was deployed overseas, going to Italy as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did not take part in combat; in comments advocating a ban on assault rifles – and there is video to prove it – he said, “We can make sure that the weapons of war that I carried in war are the only place where those weapons are.”

Nevertheless, on August 7, Vance could not resist denouncing Walz for what he called “stolen valor.”

To my knowledge, Walz never claimed to be a recipient of a medal for combat valor, such as a Bronze Star, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Medal, or Medal of Honor. So what exactly was the stolen medal for valor?

In my opinion, Vance should not be lecturing the American public on how to honor or dishonor members of the U.S. armed forces. Perhaps he should be on stage during the campaign trail looking at his running mate and taking a look at a man who could easily be classified as a draft dodger and now lives in gilded luxury at Mar-a-Lago.

It should also be noted that as governor, Walz made a point (to his and the state legislature’s great credit) of providing free school breakfast and lunch to all children in Minnesota. (California and Maine were the first, followed – in chronological order – by Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts.)

Of course, it is not part of his military record, but it counts and says something about his character: he is someone who sets an example of putting service above himself and doing something for others without thinking of reward.

The furore over Walz and Vance’s statements comes at a time when recent elections in France and Britain show that people want change and that voters will vote in greater numbers for new, liberal-leaning candidates, not conservative ones.

In the UK, the July 4 elections ended with a landslide victory for the Labour Party, ending the Conservative Party’s 14-year rule. Keir Starmer, the new Labour Prime Minister, promised in his first speech to end the “era of loud performances”.

In France, although President Emmanuel Macron’s victory was not overwhelming, the election was split three ways: a left-wing coalition came first, Macron’s centrist bloc second, and the far-right group third.

— Richard Bammer is an editor at Reporter.

Originally published: August 15, 2024 at 18:57