Social media flooded with pictures of veterans serving the country following reports of Democrat Vice Presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ducking combat in Iraq.
On Wednesday on X, posts that read, “me not being Tim Walz” went viral with veterans from the various branches of the U.S. military posting pictures of them deployed around the world. The pictures take place in the air in cockpits, war-torn countries, next to armored vehicles on the battlefield, and so much more.
Vets, post your photo of you not being Tim Walz! pic.twitter.com/OWROmYPlS4
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 7, 2024
One of the posts had three pictures and read, “Here’s a photo of me not being Tim Walz! (Last photo is me on a call with my daughter while in Afghanistan for 4 years)
Another one that generated a lot of attention read, “I’m not upset that Tim Walz was too scared to deploy to a combat zone. The issue is he abandoned his guys mere weeks before the deployment, and then he lied about being a combat vet to pass gun control. This is unforgivable.”
Here’s a photo of me not being Tim Walz! (Last photo is me on a call with my daughter while in Afghanistan for 4 years) pic.twitter.com/DvI0lDhHIT
— 💯 Dave Swingle 💯 (@davekswingle) August 7, 2024
While a third person wrote, “Here’s my National Guard son in the armored cav in Iraq not being Tim Walz.”
The posts followed reports that Walz abruptly retired from the military after being notified that his unit was set to be deployed to Iraq.
When Walz was running for Governor in 2018, former members of the National Guard spoke out about his service, with a retired command sergeant major saying he “embellished and selectively omitted facts of his military career for years,” as previously reported.
In an open letter posted to Facebook that year, retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr wrote that Walz retired just a few months after receiving a warning order that his battalion would be deployed to Iraq – even though he told military personnel he would be going on the mission.
“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.
The pair wrote that Walz said he needed to retire to run for Congress, but this was untrue. Walz could have run for Congress and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before he entered active duty, the pair claimed, noting that his official retirement document says “soldier not available for signature.”
Ashe Schow contributed to this piece.
