Tim Walz did not carry weapons into combat despite his 2018 statement

Republicans have attacked Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's military service, something traditionally considered a strong point of politicians.

After Kamala Harris' presidential campaign shared a video clip of Walz discussing gun control in 2018, Republicans pounced on the governor's statement about the weapons he said he carried during the war.

In the clip, Walz said, “We can make sure that the weapons of war that I carried in the war are the only place they are.”

Former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who like Walz is a military veteran, criticized the governor for his comment during an Aug. 7 campaign stop in Shelby Township, Michigan.

“He said, and he was making a point about gun control, that we should not allow the weapons that I used in war to be on the streets of the United States.” Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you in war? Vance asked. “What was that weapon that you took to war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he didn't spend a day in a combat zone.”

We found Vance's comment that Walz abandoned his unit to be mostly false.

The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011. During the early years of the war, Walz, who served 24 years in the National Guard, considered retiring and pursuing a career in politics. He filed his retirement papers five to seven months before retiring in May 2005 to run for Congress.

While waiting for his retirement paperwork to be processed, Walz filed papers to run for office in Congress in February 2005, a month before his battalion received notification in March of a possible deployment to Iraq within two years. Walz's battalion received official orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005, two months after he retired.

But was what Vance said about Walz not carrying weapons into combat accurate?

Walz first enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard in 1981, a few days after he turned 17. He transferred to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996, where he served in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment until his retirement in May 2005.

The Associated Press reported that Walz was a field artillery gunner as a member of the Texas Army National Guard in 1985 while attending the University of Houston, and that he also served as an instructor in the Arkansas Army National Guard.

Walz spent several months on active duty overseas, but did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his battalion deployed to Italy in August 2003 to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He returned to Minnesota in April 2004, a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson told PolitiFact.

In an email, Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Harris-Walz campaign, told PolitiFact that Walz thanked Vance for his service and “misspoke” in the 2018 video.

“In explaining why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the governor is wrong,” Hitt said. “He has handled weapons of war and firmly believes that only military personnel trained to carry these deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children.”

Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for the Trump-Vance campaign, said Walz “absolutely said that, there’s no dispute about it,” pointing to the video the Harris campaign shared about X. Schroeder also pointed to several news articles about Walz’s military service that showed he did not serve in combat missions.

In 2018, Minnesota Public Radio reported that during his military career, Walz was called to respond to natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes, and spent months on overseas missions. He specialized in heavy artillery and earned distinctions for his proficiency in marksmanship and handling hand grenades, the station wrote, citing military documents.

He never saw combat, Minnesota Public Radio reported. “I know there are certainly people who have done a lot more than I have. I know that,” Walz told the television station. “I’m happy to say that I got a lot more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything in between.”

Vance was a combat correspondent working in public affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007 and was deployed to Iraq for six months in 2005. He has no combat experience, meaning he has not carried weapons onto a battlefield.

Our decision

Vance said Walz claimed to have carried weapons during the war, but “he never spent a day in a combat zone.”

Although Walz used weapons and trained his colleagues in their use during his long military career, his 2018 statement implied that he carried weapons on a battlefield, which is not the case. Walz misspoke, his campaign said.

We consider Vance's statement to be true.

RELATED: JD Vance Attacked Tim Walz Over His Military Record. His Statement Ignores Chronology