Tim Walz ‘betrayed his country’ when he left the unit for deployment in Iraq: Why Kamala’s pick for vice president suddenly retired from the military that gave him hearing problems

A retired sergeant major has accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of “abandoning” his Minnesota National Guard unit after it was informed it should prepare for a deployment to Iraq.

Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate nominee, served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. His choice bolsters the nomination for defense.

The timing of his retirement from the military became clear during his campaign for governor in 2008.

Retired Minnesota National Guard Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends accused Walz of “embellishing” his record and abandoning his unit when he left the Guard to run for Congress.

“Tim Walz spent years embellishing and selectively omitting facts and circumstances from his military career,” Behrends wrote in 2018.

“In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which also included the position in which he was serving, to prepare for mobilization to active duty for a deployment to Iraq,” Behrends and Paul Herr wrote in a letter posted to Facebook.

‘On May 16, 2005, he resigned, betraying his country. He left the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its soldiers behind, without their top noncommissioned officer, as the battalion prepared for war.’

“His excuse to other leaders was that he had to resign to run for Congress,” they wrote, calling the claim “false.” They said the decision left his unit without a key leader as it prepared for deployment.

Waltz doubtful the characterization, who told the Winona Daily News that he did not stop because of the deployment orders, in a feud that was Daily thread amid the fierce battle over the definition of Harris’ running mate.

“After serving for 20 years in 2001, I re-enlisted to serve our country for another four years after 9/11. I retired the year before my battalion deployed to Iraq to run for Congress,” he wrote.

Walz, 60, enlisted in the Guard at age 17. He became the high score soldier who would serve in Congress.

He said he saw the letter as a “partisan political attack.”

“I’m definitely proud of my military service, but it’s a part of me. It doesn’t define me,” Walz told Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. After basic training in Georgia, he deployed to Arkansas, Texas and the Arctic Circle for disaster relief and other missions. “You go where you’re sent,” he said.

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune Walz had already been thinking about retirement after deploying to Italy for Operation Enduring Freedom following September 11.

“Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the regular soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to avoid a deployment?’ And he didn’t,” he told the newspaper. “He talked to us about that for a long time. He weighed the decision to run for Congress very heavily. He loved the Army, he loved the Guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

Veteran Joseph Eustice, who led the same battalion as Walz, called him a “great soldier,” adding: “When he decided to leave, he had every right to do so.”

DailyMail.com has contacted the Harris-Walz campaign for further comment.

Walz’s duties in a field artillery unit included firing howitzer cannons. According to Walz, this task resulted in hearing damage that required surgery.

He wrote in his application for benefits that the explosions “knocked us over and after I shot I had a ringing in my ears.”

Walz served 21 years in the Army National Guard

The Harris camp believes Walz will be able to reach rural residents in the Midwest

His attorney said hearing loss played a role in his 1995 drunken driving arrest

In 2005, he underwent a surgical procedure called a stapedectomy, in which doctors replaced the damaged ear bones with synthetic ones.

Walz invoked hearing loss during a low point after Harris selected him over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and other candidates.

In 1995, he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone. He failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for driving under the influence. He later pleaded no contest to reckless driving.

His attorney, Kerry Greeley, told the Rochester, Minnesota Post Bulletin that hearing loss played a role.

“He couldn’t understand what the officer was saying to him,” attorney Kerry Greeley told the newspaper.