Earlier this week, the Gateway Pundit reported on a 2018 West Central Tribune report that was co-authored by veterans Master Sergeant Thomas Berens and Paul Herr in 2018, but is now making headlines as Democrats announced they had chosen radical Gov. Tim Walz as Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election. Berens and Herr served in the military with Tim Walz.
In their letters West Central TribuneVeterans have exposed what they claim are significant fabrications and omissions in Waltz’s military record.
Apparently Tim Waltz has exaggerated his military record over the years. The penalty for defamation is up to one year in prison.
Below is a summary timeline detailing how Tim Walz lied about his military history.
- September 18, 2001: Tim Waltz reenlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard for six years.
- Early 2003: Selected for induction into the United States Army Sergeant Major Academy.
- Late summer 2003: He deployed to Italy for six months with the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
- Spring 2004: Returning to Minnesota, he was selected as Command Sergeant Major of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion.
- August 5, 2004: The photo was taken at a protest outside a Bush campaign rally.
- September 17, 2004: Conditionally promoted to Master Sergeant.
- Early 2005: The battalion received warning orders for mobilization to Iraq.
- May 16, 2005: Waltz retired, and the battalion lost its senior NCO as it prepared to deploy.
- September 10, 2005: He was demoted to sergeant major after dropping out of the military academy due to not meeting the promotion requirements.
- November 2005: During deployment training, he offered to raise funds for the battalion’s Christmas trip.
- 2006-2007: The battalion served for 22 months. Walz was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2006, claiming to be the highest-ranking military officer to have served in Congress.
- November 1, 2006: Iraq War veteran Tom Hagen wrote a letter to the editor of the Winona Daily News critical of Waltz’s abandonment of his unit: “I will quote a few sentences from the letter. But what is even more disturbing is the fact that Waltz immediately retired after learning that his unit, the 1-125th FA Battalion out of southern Minnesota, would be deployed to Iraq. It is disheartening that Tim Waltz abandoned his fellow soldiers and resigned at a time when they needed experienced leadership the most.”
- Waltz’s response: Although official records state he reenlisted for six years and was discharged prior to the end of this period, he claimed to have reenlisted for four years and been discharged one year prior to deployment to his battalion.
Tom Berens, the Army veteran who served in place of Tim Waltz when he deployed to Iraq in 2005, met with Megyn Kelly this week. During the interview, Berens compared Tim Waltz to famous deserter Bowe Bergdahl, adding that “he ran off” when the U.S. and its troops needed him.
Tom Baerens: The warning orders had already been issued. Everybody knew they were going to leave. And I don’t know… He hasn’t given anybody a reason other than that I had to resign to run for Congress. That’s a lie. Like many other lies, many lies that he tells. But that’s what he basically said.
But I don’t know if when he first did it, he was a coward, or if he felt like he was in a situation that was beyond his control: If I go there, people are going to get killed. Or maybe deep down, he felt like I was incompetent…
He’s a very good speaker and he puts it into practice, which I appreciate. He loves to hear himself talk. Star Tribune A reporter I spoke to a long time ago actually said, “Isn’t that treason?” Treason is probably a step above what he did. I said, “Because that would mean selling out the country to another country, unless you’re a double agent or something. Well, that’s a different matter.” He is a traitor because a traitor is basically someone who betrays his country. And that’s exactly what he did.
And then I thought about him, about the guy with Bergdahl who had just left his unit in Afghanistan, and I thought, that’s exactly what Tim Waltz did. He too is a deserter. That’s another version. But a soldier running away from duty, from a duty, never to come back, that’s exactly what he did. He had no intention of coming back as a guard, or spending another day in combat. When he unplugged and left, he basically said, “America, you’re screwed. I’m getting the hell out of here.”
Yeah, I am not ashamed to call him a traitor and a deserter. It is not good for a leader of a country to lie just for political gain or because you think that’s what you want to hear. I mean, for me, I can’t express how you can do that. As for soldiers, there are so many of them. Before 2000, I had never been to war. Not once… I had been trained overseas, though.
Via Video Megyn Kelly.
Tom Berens, a veteran who replaced Tim Waltz in a combat deployment to Iraq in 2005 (Waltz resigned and never deployed), likens him to deserter Bowe Bergdahl, saying “he ran away” when the U.S. and its troops needed him. pic.twitter.com/Jo6o1NeS74
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) August 8, 2024
