Walz’s attack on military service is political nonsense. I have suffered the same nonsense | Opinion

By Steve Brozak

After watching Gov. Tim Walz’s acceptance speech for vice president — and the synchronized frenzy of Republican criticism of his military record that followed — my reaction is this: Enough is enough.

Revisionist attacks on his decision to retire from the National Guard to run for Congress are not only partisan, they ignore reality. He could never have run for Congress without retiring, and I should know that.

I had just returned from active duty, retiring from the Marine Corps Reserve to run for Congress from New Jersey in 2004. It was the year before Governor Walz ran for Congress. I had no illusions that a campaign for Congress was going to be an easy task, but the real-life circumstances were more than just a political blood sport. At the time, under the Bush White House, it was impossible for anyone on active duty or even in the reserves to raise honest questions about what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both personal retaliation and even legal consequences were simple facts of life.

I learned that in 2004, during an interview on CNN on a Friday night, speaking as a civilian, I said, “I wanted to see my president come out and reiterate a really clear and meaningful strategy for what was going to happen in Iraq.”

On Monday, the White House had contacted Marine Corps Headquarters to request that an investigation be launched under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, similar to the Hatch Act. What prevented this from even starting? I had retired three days earlier.

Mark Twain famously said, “First find the facts, then dissolve them as you see fit.”

For me — and even more so for Governor Walz — today’s critics have conveniently ignored the chaos that the Iraq war wreaked on our active and reserve military, and the misplaced arrogance of those who pushed that war.

Twenty years ago, even our 30- to 45-year-old reservists and guardsmen were called up to serve alongside our teenage troops, often without even the basic equipment they needed. And forget about an actual plan: as Donald Rumsfeld said, we would be greeted as liberators, only to be overshadowed by his declaration that we would quickly wipe out the insurgents “with no way out.” History has tragically proven Rumsfeld wrong.

Guardsmen and reservists were asked to make sacrifices, with unrealistic troop strengths and manpower losses preventing them from returning home. It was a very hard fate. As many have said, it was their job. However, when financial and social hardships were imposed on their families and loved ones, it became unthinkable.

This was the context that Governor Walz had to navigate as he tried to make changes for the men and women in his charge.

So he ran for Congress, and his success in the 2006 election mattered: Congressional leadership changed and the administration was put on notice that it was now accountable.

Tim Walz didn’t leave the Guard to avoid service; he ran for Congress to further his service.

Governor Walz retired as a senior non-commissioned officer from an artillery unit after 24 years of service in the National Guard, which should be recognized and applauded. His life has been filled with true American stories told by many members of the military, including friends, students, colleagues, and even fellow members of Congress. Let us not cast any shadow of doubt on his selfless career, his warmth, and his good nature.

We are now shrouded in a fog — not the fog of war, but the fog of political propaganda that is eerily reminiscent of the onslaught Senator Kerry faced in his 2004 presidential campaign. This time, however, it is far worse. The hypocritical attacks by Republicans on Governor Walz’s service are bad enough, but now they are coupled with the downgrading of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Donald Trump’s statement that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which honors civilians, “is actually much better than the Medal of Honor because the service members who receive the country’s highest military decoration are often wounded or killed” is repulsive, and the attacks on Walz are misguided.

Both trample on American values ​​and cannot be justified. And both should be denounced for dishonoring our military members, veterans and all Americans.

Steve Brozak is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and president of WBB Securities, an investment management firm based in Cranford. He ran unsuccessfully for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District seat in 2004.

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