He never said that, he said he was in Europe as part of operation freedom. Whether someone thought that meant he deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan that is on them. It has always been clear that he deployed to Italy. He has been very clear in what he did and that he was not in a combat zone.
"I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that," Walz said in a
2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio.
What he state that most have jumped on is when he was referring to a dead soldier. Which appears to be a transcriber error in stating Bagram Iraq. You also had others claiming that he implied he served in Afghanistan or Iraq, when what he was referring to was a congressional trip in 2008 in which he said he saw a fallen soldier and was reflecting why some are lucky to come home like himself. While others are not.
Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz give a 9/11 anniversary speech in which he claimed that while serving in the National Guard he "stood one night in the dark of night at Bagram Air Base in Iraq", seemingly unaware Bagram is in Afghanistan? No, that's not true: Video of his speech shows Walz only said he was at "Bagram," not "Bagram Air Base in Iraq" and did not claim he was deployed at the time. The social media post criticizing Walz relied on a flawed transcript of remarks Walz made at a 20-year memorial event on September 11, 2021. Walz made the trip in 2008, two years after he was elected to Congress, according to a press release by a veteran's organization.
As to his rank. He did have that rank he claimed. Now he retired before gaining the remaining education requirements to retire at that level, in either case he did bear that rank. So to have concerns over that seems like you are really having issues with small details.
So sharky, if you want to base your decisions on facts, those are the facts. But if you want to deal with misinformation, please be my guest.
Also Sharky, I feel bad for what you went through with your friend. I think I would have more of a concern with Trumps statements saying anyone who died or was injured in combat was Loser. If you were to base your vote on the military and statements, I think that would be a bigger statement for you to jump on. Trump views your friend as a loser for being injured or dying. He has been very consistent in those type of statements.