Stolen Valor: The Military Fraud and Government Failures of Tim Walz

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

ISBN: 979-8-89565-051-6

ISBN (eBook): 979-8-89565-052-3

Stolen Valor:

The Military Fraud and Government Failures of Tim Walz

© 2024 by The BrownMann Group, LLC.

All Rights Reserved

This book, as well as any other Post Hill Press publications, may be purchased in bulk quantities at a special discounted rate. Contact [email protected] for more information.

This is a work of nonfiction. All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the author’s memory.

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Post Hill Press

New York • Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

For Briley

She loved her family,

Donald Trump,

and most of all Jesus Christ.

and

For my Dad

Who taught me to seek and serve the Lord,

in the ways he did

and beyond.

Contents

Preface

Part I: Military Fraud

Chapter 1: Cowardice—Sneaking Out

Chapter 2: Combat—Turning Your Blood

Chapter 3: Fraudulent Rank—Living the Lie

Part II: Government Failures

Chapter 4: Sexualization of Children—He Celebrates It

Chapter 5: Abortion—Settle Down

Chapter 6: COVID—Endless Emergency Power

Chapter 7: Race Riots—Politically Driven

Chapter 8: China and Marxism—Little Bad Mouth

Conclusion

Endnotes

About the Authors

Preface

There comes a time in every person’s life when he or she must choose to speak up about evil or remain silent while the world around them gets dragged down into darkness. This is one of those times. America, a light on a hill for more than two centuries, is cringing under the icy fingers of a creeping shadow. There isn’t a thoughtful citizen alive who doesn’t feel the chill and see the divide being created between neighbors and friends.

Democracies throughout history start in a state of bondage, and out of that oppression rises great faith. From faith comes acts of courage; from courage comes liberty, and out of liberty comes abundance. Sadly, that’s where the cycle peaks and begins its decline. Abundance leads to selfishness, which leads to apathy. Apathy is another word for tolerance, and apathy leads to anarchy, because when everything is tolerated, nothing can be called wrong. Eventually, anarchy leads to dictatorship. For those few democracies that overcome the bondage of dictatorship and return to great faith, the cycle repeats. For others, dictatorship destroys.

For America to survive as a free nation, two things are clear. First, it must be able to manage its abundance. Practices of charity, generosity, and personal sacrifice are at our core. We must press into these to protect us from the lie that it is not our responsibility to take care of our neighbors because we will all be taken care of by the state. And we must put boundaries around the abundance we allow ourselves and our children, so as to prevent selfishness that leads to moral decay.

Second, for a nation to remain free, neighbors must trust each other. In this time of deep political divide, where a news outlet or candidate is incentivized to create distrust, we must look beyond the rhetoric and invite our neighbors into our lives, not because they’ve earned that right, but because that’s the model set before us.

America will never be Heaven on Earth. That joy will come one day for those who know Him. But America can hold the door open for the light that points people in that direction. Or that door can close, leaving the darkness to pull people the other way.

Most democracies that begin to decline do not rise again. But most democracies throughout history do not have something we have. In this modern era of mass communication, the falling action is happening fast. Every time we turn around, we wonder how things have gotten so much worse. But with that speed comes the reality that many Americans are still alive who remember what it means to trust their neighbor and to live contentedly within their means. Many remember what it looks like to be a nation of great faith and courage. And therefore, many are still capable of creating the momentum we need to catapult our country over this chasm of darkness, and onto the solid ground of a bright future.

For everyone, there comes a time when he or she must choose to speak about the evil they see. Even when speaking out may come at a great cost. This is that time.

Part I

Military Fraud

It has been 20 years since dereliction of duty charges played a significant role in a U.S. presidential election. In September 2004, CBS News’ 60 Minutes II aired a report questioning whether President George W. Bush had fulfilled his service commitments to the Texas Air National Guard during the early 1970s. The report quickly fell apart and the ensuing scandal significantly damaged CBS News’ credibility, ultimately forcing Dan Rather himself into retirement.

Coincidentally (or maybe not) that same year, John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for the presidency also faced dereliction of duty accusations. A group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth challenged Kerry’s claims about his own service during Vietnam.

Where CBS News had failed, the Swift Boaters, as they came to be called, succeeded. Their claims that Kerry had lied about his service records and medals took root in the public consciousness and torpedoed Kerry’s credibility. Kerry would not recover from the damage the Swift Boaters’ testimony inflicted.

After Bush defeated Kerry, the country went 20 years without any serious accusations of military dereliction of duty. Those 20 years ended on August 6, 2024. Not only was military service back on the U.S. political menu, so were dereliction of duty and the National Guard.

Tim Walz, the current governor of Minnesota, a former congressman, and a retired Army National Guardsman beat out Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for the Democratic vice-presidential spot. To the Harris campaign, Walz came across first like an amiable uncle, and second like someone who wouldn’t anger Palestinian/Muslim voters like Shapiro, who is Jewish, would. (The fact that having a Jewish running mate would cost Harris Democrat voters is an issue that falls outside the scope of this book, but every voter should consider what that says about Harris and the Democratic party.)

Walz was instantly visible everywhere. Pictures and videos of him in camo hats showed up in the news.¹ Shots of him in an orange and khaki game vest with his dog and a $1,700 Beretta shotgun² circulated on social media.³ Walz had infamously referred to the conservative red portions of Minnesota as rocks and cows territory⁴ (which spawned an eponymous and spectacularly anti-Walz Facebook page⁵), but the Harris campaign was clearly making a play for the country’s few remaining rocks and cows Democrats.

Walz immediately took to the stage. Where Harris was wooden, insecure, and inarticulate; Walz was animated, over confident, and could talk a mile a minute without awkward pauses, nervous hand gestures, or cringey cackles. With enthusiasm and a practiced man-of-the-people patter, Walz loudly ordered Donald Trump and his supporters to mind your own damn business. (That was a bold choice for the man who set up Soviet-style snitch lines for family, friends, and neighbors to report each other for violating Walz’s COVID policies.)

All it took was a few minutes listening to learn that Walz, despite his carefully curated avuncular style, was every bit the hardcore leftist that Kamala Harris was. But where she came across as weak and retiring, he came across as hard-nosed and in your face. For all intents and purposes, Walz checked every box when it comes to leftist orthodoxy: Pro-abortion, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-gun control, pro-trans/child mutilation, pro-gay marriage, pro-COVID lockdowns, pro-BLM, pro-tax, pro-spending, pro-marijuana, anti-parental rights, anti-police, and anti-energy.

Corporate journalists sang his praises. MSNBC called Walz a no drama candidate the AP reported Walz was beloved by young voters, the Guardian called him a governor with a history of winning over Republicans, and the Washington Post promptly offered 6 reasons Tim Walz was the right choice.

When it came to citizen journalists, however, things weren’t quite as rosy for Walz. Not bound by the establishment media’s sycophantic devotion to the Left, citizen journalists on X (formerly Twitter) began digging into every corner of Walz’s past. Less than 24 hours after Harris’ announcement, accusations of cowardice, stolen valor, and rank embellishment exploded.

Walz spent the nearly 20 years since he retired from the National Guard using his service as a campaign tool, a rhetorical flourish, and an all-purpose key-jangle that can be used to distract from criticism. Because of the way Walz handled his exit from the Guard and the way he has conducted himself since then, serious questions about his integrity have been raised. Specifically, Walz has been accused of cowardice, stolen valor, and rank embellishment. In the process of writing this book, the authors have become convinced beyond a doubt that Walz is guilty. To be clear, neither the authors nor the Guardsmen we spoke with set out to make Tim Walz’s military service a political issue. Walz did that by himself.

Divided into two sections, this book ties together the authors’ own research, research from citizen journalists, research from national news sources as well as local Minnesota publications, testimony from Minnesotans, and testimony from Guardsmen who knew of Walz or knew him personally. The first section of the book deals with issues related to Walz’s military service. The second section deals with Walz’s policy positions and the fallout that accompanied their implementation in Minnesota. The vast majority of Walz’s positions are extreme and out of line with what average Americans believe, let alone nearly all of us who live out with Walz’s spurned rocks and cows.

We, the authors, have reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign, seeking an opportunity to ask Gov. Walz about his military service, the decision he made to leave his unit, how he has represented himself since his retirement, the policies he has advanced throughout his political career, and numerous other details that this book touches on. We also offered him the opportunity to submit comments that we would publish in these pages. As of this writing, neither Walz, nor anyone from his office, nor anyone from the Harris-Walz campaign have responded.

A final note: The public owes a great deal to the citizen journalists who have been excavating Walz’s record. In researching this book, we have repeatedly watched articles or evidence we had bookmarked suddenly disappear without explanation. Internet archives would malfunction or tweets with images of official documents would simply vanish into the digital ether. Citizen journalists have done incredible work finding, surfacing, and preserving critical information. This book seeks to do the same, wholistically and in perpetuity.

Chapter 1

Cowardice—Sneaking Out

He snuck out the back door...

—Lathe Ragels, Command Sergeant Major (Retired)

Of the three charges against Walz—cowardice, stolen valor, and rank embellishment—it makes the most sense to address cowardice first. The other two charges depend to varying degrees on facts that will be established as we consider Walz’s alleged cowardice. Cowardice is impossible to objectively prove, but most adults know cowardice when they see it.

We cannot prove that Tim Walz is a coward. But when we examine him and his record, we see cowardice written all over it. There is a chance, however, that it wasn’t cowardice that drove Tim Walz to do what he did from late 2004 into 2005. It’s possible that what looks exactly like cowardice was actually selfish opportunism. Maybe Tim Walz abandoned his men not because he feared he would be injured or lose his life but because he saw an opportunity for a new life—the DC high life. Maybe he decided it was worth sacrificing the men in his unit for the opportunity to gain power, money, and prestige. Readers will disagree on which is worse—cowardice or selfish opportunism—but one thing is certain: A man whose heart is controlled by either of those nasty traits is not fit to help lead the United States of America.

The Case for Cowardice

To establish cowardice, or what appears indistinguishable from cowardice, we have to know why Tim Walz chose to retire before his unit—the unit he was responsible for—deployed to Iraq.

To do that, a timeline of Walz’s service is helpful, with particular attention paid to his final enlistment.

Tim Walz first enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard in 1981 as a 17-year-old.⁶ His last reenlistment was on September 18, 2001—exactly one week after 9/11. Walz claims that he reenlisted for four years,⁷ however an NGB Form 22 (the separation and record of service form for Guardsmen leaving the service) for Tim Walz put his end of service date as September 18, 2007, implying Walz actually reenlisted for six years.

Regardless, Walz would eventually retire from the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2005, having served 24 years in total but one or three years less than he reenlisted for in 2001. He served in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, a part of the 34th Infantry Division, also known as the Red Bulls.

Timeline of Walz’s Service

April 1981—Tim Walz enlists in the Nebraska National Guard⁸

September 18, 2001—Walz reenlists in the National Guard for the last time, for either four years (according to Walz) or six years (according to documents provided by Sergeant Major Tom Behrends (Retired))

August 3, 2002—Walz receives notification of eligibility for retirement from the Guard (20 years of service⁹)

Early 2003—Walz is selected to attend the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy.

Late summer 2003—First Sergeant Walz deploys with the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) to Italy

September 17th, 2004—Walz is conditionally promoted to Sergeant Major (and begins serving as a Command Sergeant Major (CSM) while his packet is submitted to the National Guard Bureau to appoint him to CSM)¹⁰

Fall 2004—Notification of Service (NOS)