As we close in on the election with people already voting, I thought I would add my two cents to what I think of Kamala Harris running mate Tim Walz. I’ve drawn cartoons of him and written jokes about his prancing on stage and mused about his incompetence as a state’s chief executive because Walz is a clown. Nonetheless, I want to touch on his stolen valor. More to the point, his stolen honor.
Yes, the stories about Walz inflating his service have been discussed at length, and his story of being at Tiananmen Square when Red China troops rolled up and murdered hundreds have been waved off by Walz as: “I’m sometimes a knucklehead,” but the truth he is no better than a clown wearing medals he didn’t earn.
I’ve written about my dad's experience in war. He was a Marine in World War II. In his first assault landing, he saw a man next to him take a bullet to the chest, and his Captain was killed right next to him, all within the first few minutes. Later, he witnessed the burial team remove personal effects from his Captain’s body. He asked to see the photo in his wallet – a photo of a woman and two children, presumably his Captain’s family – people who would never see him again. That image never left my dad.
After Marines and Army soldiers had secured Okinawa, my dad was tasked to be in the honor guard at the 6th Marine Division cemetery. He was honored to be “guarding” the bodies of fallen fellow Marines.
My brother was a Navy Corpsman. He was stationed on Guam during the Vietnam War. On Guam, wounded warriors were treated for care and often died from their wounds. Many men he treated died in front of him. He could do nothing but watch the life ebb from their bodies. Those images never left him.
Honoring dead warriors — fallen heroes — is a sacred task. Walz saying he was in combat and carried a weapon in war was bad enough; but he also insinuated that he was in combat, in uniform, and participated in a sacred ramp ceremony. Jennifer Van Laar wrote about this stolen honor claim:
[Walz] said:
In the years after that classroom, I had the privilege of serving in this state's [N[ational [G]uard. And when I left I had a two-year-old; when I left I had a three-year-old. But as I listened to Jill and I listed to Mariah, the guilt -- I came home, and my daughter went on. And when you're two and three, she knew no difference. That's not true for some. They can't do that. And over the preceding years of watching us, and as our nation changed and our political systems became more -- more difficult for all of us to understand --
I stood one night in the dark of night on the tarmac at Bagram and watched a military ramp ceremony. And if you've seen it, which these folks, many have, unfortunately, you don't leave the same. And it makes you wonder, what are we doing? What are we trying to get to?
Walz was once at Bagram. He stood on the Tarmac in a suit and tie — as Congressman. But he insinuated he was there in uniform. He wasn't.
Here is the recollection of an actual combat veteran who was part of a ramp ceremony. He pinned this to his X feed so everyone knows what that veteran thinks of Tim Walz's stolen honor story.
Here is the full thread:
I’m trying to put into words how angry this makes me. During the Surge March 07 - May 08 while I was on FOB Rusty in south Baghdad, my sniper section was asked to perform the ramp ceremony. I was assigned to the back left part of the stretcher. Many experiences in Iraq had profound effects on my life but these ceremonies will never leave me. I was emotionally unprepared the first time we did it. We met outside the building where they had prepared the body. We would come into the room, the body was placed in the black body bag, with a flag over the top, and was waiting for us. In that moment I was completely changed. I questioned why this task was laid on our section. I was not honorable enough for such a task.
We gathered ourselves, grabbed the handles, and set our minds to this task. It was more than 150 yards to the Blackhawk. The street was lined with soldiers from the whole FOB. In the darkness of the night, the trumpet sounding off, we marched in silence to the bird.
After handing off the body of our fallen brother, we walk back to our rooms in silence. Thinking about the journey this body would take back to his loved ones on the other side of the world. We did this over and over for the next 14 months . There were times when there was much left of a body, and those times still haunt me. I was ask to do a honorable task, the burden of that task is still with me. Men and woman who sacrificed it all for a country they loved, I carried them to fly back home. Their loss forever with me.
Walz stealing those sacred moments, to drape himself in THIER honorable sacrifice is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard. His lying fill me with a rage and anger that I hope fall upon him one day. He dishonors his own service with these lies. He dishonors our nation’s heroes by stealing their courage and glory. 24 yrs of service thrown away because he knew he quit on his men, quit on himself, and is filled with the shame for who he sees in the mirror. Let us never forget those who gave it all. Let us never allow their glory, courage, and selfless sacrifice be stolen by anyone. We live our lives today to honor who they were as men and woman, TRULY THE GREATEST AMERICANS.
Walz is an utter disgrace.