Veterans groups hit back at J.D. Vance for claiming Tim Walz had 'stolen valor'

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) began his Wednesday this week by attacking his vice-presidential opponent, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), for supposedly misleading people about his 24-year service. According to Vance, Walz is deploying "stolen valor" to promote himself.

Veterans and pro-vet groups, however, are hitting back at Vance for questioning Walz's service and rank.

"We're setting the record straight," Vote Vets said with a post on the social media site X. They created a graph showing the "fact and fiction" of Walz's military record. Among the fictional claims, "Walz retired because he knew he was going to deploy to Iraq. Walz is using a rank he didn't attain and that's Stolen Valor."

Vote Vets labeled this claim "Bulls--t," and then explained why.

"Tim submitted his retirement request to the U.S. Army National Guard months prior to the notification of his unit's deployment," they explained. "His unit was fully sourced (staffed), and his request was approved. He retired in May 2005."

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On the claim about his rank, the group called that "Bulls--t," as well.

"The Minnesota National Guard says it's bulls--t," they write. "It is entirely accurate to describe Tim as having been a Command Sergeant Major -- the rank under which he served -- and the Minnesota National Guard has emphasized in public statements that he can be referred to as such."

Veterans For Responsible Leadership, a non-partisan advocacy group, similarly posted a photo of Walz where he was coaching football. "Do you notice what shirt he's wearing," the org asked. "It's Mission 22 - a great organization with the great mission of preventing veteran suicide. He walks the walk."

Walz served on the House Veterans Affairs Committee when he was in Congress.

Afghanistan veteran and director of Common Defense Perry O'Brien similarly called out Vance saying, "Veterans who attack each other's service are weird." He championed Walz and his service.