Marine Corps veteran Joey Jones torched former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) for his efforts to downplay the military service of Republican vice presidential nominee — and Ohio Senator — JD Vance.
The exchange began with a series of reports about Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) — who was just tapped to be the running mate for the Democratic Party’s candidate-by-default, Vice President Kamala Harris — and the alleged “embellishments” he has made to his own military career over the years.
Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Iraq as a Public Affairs officer, responded to reports that Walz had abruptly retired in 2005, forfeiting a conditional promotion to command sergeant major, shortly after learning that his unit was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.
“What really bothers me about Tim Walz, as a Marine who served his country in uniform?” Vance asked rhetorically. “When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. … When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq … he dropped out of the Army,” Vance said.
Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran, downplayed Vance’s service in an effort to run defense for Walz: “Ok. JD served honorably, but he wasn’t kicking down doors. He was in public affairs. Which again, is fine and honorable. Tim, after he was eligible for retirement, retired. People do that. If it was a real problem he would have been ‘stop lossed’ and prevented from retiring.”
Ok. JD served honorably, but he wasn’t kicking down doors. He was in public affairs. Which again, is fine and honorable.
Tim, after he was eligible for retirement, retired. People do that.
If it was a real problem he would have been “stop lossed” and prevented from… https://t.co/EE3EZkKKXj
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) August 7, 2024
Jones made it clear that he was not impressed, firing back at Kinzinger, “I sat behind a 50 cal machine gun in Iraq on roads littered with IEDs. I walked around Afghanistan taking IEDs apart by hand. In Iraq and Afghanistan even pencil pushers were vulnerable to rockets and mortars landing on their heads (see Al Asad this week),” he said. “A chow hall at that very same base was hit in 2007 just before I got there.”
“I lost more than one buddy to friendly fire in Afghanistan from foreign nationals on a secured base. Everyone on a base in Iraq or Afghanistan got combat pay because they were literally surrounded by a capable enemy. Adam is a bona fide s*** bird for even posting this,” he concluded.
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I sat behind a 50 cal machine gun in Iraq on roads littered with IEDs. I walked around Afghanistan taking IEDs apart by hand.
In iraq and Afghanistan even pencil pushers were vulnerable to rockets and mortars landing on their heads (see Al Asad this week). A chow hall at that… https://t.co/cxbXXim1FM
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) August 7, 2024