National Guard vets say Tim Walz skipped out on battalion before scheduled Iraq deployment

Two retired National Guard officers have accused Minnesota Gov. and Democrat Vice Presidential pick Tim Walz of retiring suddenly from the service to avoid deployment to Iraq in 2005 and of "embellishing" his military record.

Retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr said in a 2018 letter published to Facebook that Walz told his fellow troops he would deploy to Iraq with them, but then retired so suddenly that he didn't even sign the paperwork.

“On May 16th, 2005, [Walz] quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war,” Behrends and Herr wrote.

A year later, Walz began his political career by running for Congress.

The veterans said Walz could have stayed in the military and still run for office at the same time, so retiring was not required.

Some of the other battalion leaders who led with Walz have defended him, however.