The two vice presidential nominees in this year’s presidential election are military veterans. Donald Trump‘s GOP running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, served in the U.S. Marines. Vice President Kamala Harris‘s pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, served in the Army National Guard.
Vance, who served four years in the Marine Corps as an enlisted combat correspondent, and was deployed to Iraq for approximately six months, accused Walz of ducking serving in Iraq when — after serving 24 years — Walz retired from the Army National Guard in 2005 and ran for Congress. Walz’s unit was deployed to Iraq in 2006.
My dad served in the army during the Korean war.
With his encouragement, at 17, I joined the Army National Guard for 24 years.
Service gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves. And just as it did for my dad and millions of others, the GI…
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024
Right-wing political pundits are feeding the narrative that Walz did something wrong in retiring before his unit was deployed.
Walz’s detractors include Maureen Bannon, daughter of imprisoned former White House Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who works on the family podcast, War Room.
[Note: Steve Bannon is serving a four-month sentence in federal prison for defying a congressional subpoena regarding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.]
With photos of herself in a U.S. Army uniform (below), Ms. Bannon wrote: “Unlike Tim Walz, I actually deployed to Iraq!”
Unlike @Tim_Walz, I actually deployed to Iraq!! pic.twitter.com/rF5tlrQAoB
— Maureen Bannon (@maureen_bannon) August 8, 2024
Minnesota’s The Star Tribune interviewed Joseph Eustice, a 32-year-veteran who led the same battalion as Walz, who said Walz did nothing wrong when he left the Guard.
”He was a great soldier,” Eustice said. “When he chose to leave, he had every right to leave.”
Note: According to the Military Times, the GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump “received five deferments during the height of the Vietnam War. Four were for education. The fifth was the medical waiver, after his graduation.”