Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took the “coward’s way out” when he retired months before his National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq, according to a grieving mom whose teen son was killed by a roadside bomb.
Sgt. Kyle Miller, 19, who was part of Walz’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery unit, died in Iraq in 2006 — just as the Democrat was serving his freshman term in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. The unit’s Sgt. 1st Class David Berry was killed a year later.
“My son wasn’t even 21 years old. He couldn’t even buy alcohol. Yet he took the step to serve our country while Walz found the best way to run away,” Miller’s mother, Kathy Miller, told the Daily Mail.
“It was the coward’s way out.”
Walz — Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate — officially retired as a command sergeant major in the Minnesota National Guard after 24 years on May 16, 2005, to launch his political career.
Two months later, the 1-125th received an alert order for mobilization as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit mobilized that October, according to CBS News.
“It makes you wonder if he will bow out in some manner, and not accomplish the job he is supposed to get done,” said Kathy Miller.
Miller joined the Minnesota National Guard when he was a junior in high school, his family said. He graduated in June 2005, and deployed to Iraq with the 1-125th after he completed basic training.
Miller, 19, was four months into his deployment when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Balad on June 29, 2006, the West Central Tribune reported at the time.
“My son stepped up to the plate. All our sons stepped up,” Kathy Miller said.
Walz’s rank, meanwhile, was reduced to master sergeant because he had not finished coursework for the US Army Sergeants Major Academy.
“I don’t think it’s fair that [Walz] takes credit when he didn’t step up to the plate,” Kathy Miller said. “Walz claims a rank he never earned. When he was called to serve and protect our country, he didn’t. To publicly present false prestige of his unearned rank, an inaccurate representation, is a falsehood of who he truly is.”
The mom told the Daily Mail she has never heard from Walz or his office.
The 1-125th suffered another blow on Feb. 22, 2007, when squad leader Berry was killed by an IED that struck his Humvee in Qasim, according to the Desert Bulls newsletter.
Berry, 37, was a member of the Kansas National Guard who had been with the 1-125th since its mobilization for deployment in October 2005, the write-up explained.
In 2005, Berry had been awarded the Soldier’s Medal — the highest peacetime honor — for pulling an unconscious man from a burning pickup truck on a remote highway near Wichita, NPR reported.
Berry’s family declined to comment to The Post.
Walz has faced renewed scrutiny of his 24-year military record — particularly the timing of his retirement –since he debuted this week as Harris’ running mate.
Donald Trump’s VP pick, Marine Corps veteran JD Vance, went so far as to accuse Walz of “stolen valor” in response to a video that showed Walz implying that he had actually seen combat.
Vance, 40, deployed to Iraq for six months in an administrative role in 2005. Trump, 78, was medically exempt from the Vietnam War draft in the late 1960s due to bone spurs.
While one former colleague remembered that Walz “heavily” weighed his choice to retire instead of deploy with the unit, a former superior accused the future governor of going over his head in order to step down.
“I would have analyzed it and challenged him. It would have been a different discussion, but he went to the higher ranks. He knew I would have told him, ‘Suck it up, we’re going,’” Doug Julin claimed to the Washington Post.
Others have criticized that Walz retired in order to run for Congress, even though he knew he could request permission from the Pentagon to run for office while deployed.
“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,” retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr wrote in a letter posted to Facebook in 2018.
Walz filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 10, 2005, online records show.
The next month, the National Guard announced the possible partial mobilization of about 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard, CBS News reported.
“As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or Iraq,” Walz said in a statement at the time.
