Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrat presumptive vice-presidential nominee, clapped back at his Republican counterpart J.D. Vance over attacks of his military record, saying he's "damn proud" of his service while chastising Vance for disparaging it.
Walz made the comments during his first solo speech before the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
"I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice," Walz said.
Walz invited criticism from Vance, members of his old unit with the Minnesota Army National Guard, and myriad others over stolen valor for asserting he retired with the rank of command sergeant major and for comments suggesting he saw combat.
The Harris-Walz campaign was forced to walk back both.
Walz's bio was adjusted to show his rank reverted to master sergeant when he retired in 2005. Separately, the campaign said Walz "misspoke" about having seen combat. Walz, who was stationed in Italy, retired before his unit deployed to Iraq in order to run for Congress.
Walz's gubernatorial bio still refers to him as "Command Sergeant Major Walz."
"These guys are even attacking me for my record of service. And I just want to say, I'm proud to have served my country and I always will be. With my dad's encouragement — a guy who served in the Army during the Korean War — I signed up for the Army National Guard two days after my 17th birthday," Walz said in Tuesday's speech.
Vance was a four-year veteran of the Marine Corps who deployed to Iraq for 6 months in a non-combative role in 2005.