vietnam war essay grade 12 notes

During the campaign, peace talks on Vietnam had begun in Paris.  The Democrats had pinned their hopes for the election on achieving some results there.  However, evidence suggests that representatives from the Nixon campaign told the government of South Vietnam they would get a better peace deal with a Republican in the White House than they would with a Democrat.  South Vietnam withdrew from the negotiations on the eve of the election and Nixon won. Negotiations resumed shortly thereafter.

The End of the Vietnam War

Beset at home and abroad, in 1968 Lyndon Johnson decided against running for re-election. In March he banned bombing north of the twentieth parallel, leaving most of North Vietnam a sanctuary. He was succeeded by Republican Richard M. Nixon, who largely limited offensive air operations over the North for nearly four years. One example will suffice: from 1965 through 1968 Navy aircrews downed thirty-three enemy aircraft, but over the next three years tailhookers splashed only one. Meanwhile, “peace talks” trickled out in Paris. The end of the Vietnam War was in sight.

Then, on March 30, 1972, Hanoi launched a full-scale conventional attack against South Vietnam, shattering the dead-end Paris “peace talks.” American airpower responded massively.

Leading  Constellation ’s   Air Wing Nine was Commander Lowell “Gus” Eggert, a cheerful aviator who enjoyed partying with his aircrews. Eggert’s keen intuition told him the 1971–72 cruise might be different from the previous three years. He began training his squadrons for large “Alpha” strikes in addition to the usual close air support in South Vietnam and Laos.

“Connie” completed her six-month deployment, and on April 1 she was in Japan preparing to return to California, when the North Vietnamese spring offensive rolled south. Sailors and aircrews hastily offloaded their new purchases—notably motorcycles—and began loading ordnance. The ship was back in the Tonkin Gulf five days later, joining  Hancock ,  Coral Sea , and  Kitty Hawk . By then the communists had beefed up their air defenses, and on one mission over South Vietnam an Intruder pilot had to abort his attack because a cloud of tracers obscured the reticle of his bombsight.

After further delay, Nixon finally loosed the airmen in order to quicken the end of the Vietnam War. A Phantom pilot recalled, “We had reports of 168 SAMs on the first night after Nixon got serious in May. But that was coordinated with massive B-52 raids supported by three carrier air wings.”

On May 9 a handful of aircraft demonstrated the carrier’s potential for strategic effects with extreme economy of force. While  Kitty Hawk  provided a diversionary strike,  Coral Sea  launched nine jets that turned the war around in two minutes: six Navy A-7Es and three Marine A-6As laid three dozen mines in Haiphong Harbor. The weapons were time-delayed to allow ships to leave North Vietnam’s major port. During the next three days, thousands more mines were sown in Hanoi’s coastal waters, effectively blockading the communists from seaborne replenishment. Commander Roger Sheets’s Air Wing Fifteen, on its seventh Vietnam deployment, shut down Haiphong for almost a year—well beyond the impending “peace” treaty.

The mines were frequently replenished, eventually totaling more than eleven thousand weapons. Sometimes the “reseeding” involved unconventional tactics, as when  Saratoga ’s   Air Wing Three employed Phantoms flying formation on Intruders and Corsairs in what one F-4 pilot called “a one-potato, two-potato” drop sequence, based on when the attack jets released.

Finally Phantom crews could ply their trade again. From January 1972 through January 1973, carrier-based F-4s claimed twenty-five aerial kills—nearly as many as the Navy total in the first six years of the war. The tailhookers’ best day was May 10. That morning a twoplane VF-92 section off  Constellation  trolled Kep Airfield and caught two MiG-21s taking off. The high-speed, low-level chase ended with one MiG destroyed which, with the Air Force bombing the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi, sparked an exceptional response.

That afternoon “Connie” launched thirty-two planes against Hai Duong logistics, producing one of the biggest combats of the war with Phantoms, Corsairs, and MiGs embroiled in a “furball” of maneuvering jets. When it was over, two F-4s fell to flak and SAMs while VF-96 claimed six kills, producing the Navy’s only ace crew of the war. In all, the Navy and Air Force downed a dozen MiGs, which remains an unsurpassed one-day total more than forty years later.

During Operation Linebacker—the final air campaign over North Vietnam, signally the end of the Vietnam War—American aircrews claimed seventy-two aerial kills versus twenty-eight known losses to MiGs, an overall exchange ratio of 2.5–1. However, the Navy’s intensive fighter training program from 1969 onward produced exceptional results. “Topgun” graduates and doctrine yielded twenty-four MiGs against four carrier planes lost, including a lone Vigilante escorted by fighters. In contrast to the Navy’s 6–1 kill ratio, the Air Force figure was closer to 2–1, approaching parity in some months.

The disparity between the two services was dramatically illustrated in August 1972, when four F-8E Crusaders from  Hancock deployed to Udorn, Thailand, to update Air Force Phantom crews on air combat maneuvering. The senior Navy pilot was already a MiG killer, Commander John Nichols, who noted, “My biggest challenge was keeping my guys from lording it over the blue suiters.”

Throughout the war and up to the end of the Vietnam War, naval aviators shot down sixty enemy aircraft—all by carrier pilots. It was a stark contrast to Korea when barely a dozen communist planes were credited to tailhookers among fifty-four total by Navy and Marine pilots.

In fact, the reason for carrier-based fighters was to establish air superiority so the attack planes could perform their vital mission. Skyraiders, Skyhawks, Intruders, and Corsairs seldom worried about enemy aircraft while placing ordnance on target the length and breadth of Indochina. Few aircrews and probably few admirals realized how far carrier aviation had come since the start of World War II. Long gone was the era when airpower theorists insisted that sea-based aircraft could not compete with land-based planes. If nothing else, Vietnam confirmed that naval aviation was a world-class organization.

On two days in October 1972, Commander Donald Sumner led USS  America  (CVA-66) A-7 Corsairs against Thanh Hoa Bridge, a vital communist transportation target. One of his pilots, Lieutenant Commander Leighton Smith, had first bombed the bridge as a  Coral Sea  A-4 pilot in 1966. The Air Force had badly damaged “The Dragon’s Jaw,” but spans remained intact. With a combination of two thousand-pound TV-guided weapons and conventional one-ton bombs, the naval aviators finally slew the long-lived dragon, more than seven years after the first U.S. efforts.

During the eleven-day “Christmas War” of 1972, carrier aircraft again supported B-52s in bombing an intransigent Hanoi back to the bargaining table. By then Hanoi was nearly out of SA-2 missiles.

The Paris accords among Washington, Saigon, and Hanoi took effect January 27, 1973. They were the diplomatic efforts that signaled the end of the Vietnam War. On that day Commander Harley Hall, a former Blue Angel leader and the commander of an  Enterprise  F-4 squadron, became the last naval aviator shot down in the long war. His Phantom fell north of the Demilitarized Zone, and though his back-seater survived captivity, Hall did not. Long thereafter his widow learned that he had probably lived two or more years in captivity, abandoned by his government with unknown numbers of other men.

This article is part of our larger selection of posts about the Vietnam War. To learn more, click here for our comprehensive guide to the Vietnam War .

This article is also part of our larger selection of posts about American History. To learn more,  click here for our comprehensive guide to American History .

Additional Resources About Vietnam War

Vietnam war summary—overview of the conflict, when was the vietnam war, what was the gulf of tonkin resolution, battle of dien bien phu, cite this article.

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Vietnam war essay grade 12 summary

An analysis of the Vietnam War indicates that it is one of the longest lasting wars that was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, and the United States also participated actively in the war as an ally of South Vietnam. It is mainly the US anti-communist foreign policy that has driven the war and the conflict was further intensified because of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is also known as the second Indo-China war where in the north Vietnam was positively supported by the Soviet Union, whereas South Vietnam got the support of America, Australia, Britain, France and New Zealand. The war lasted for 19 years and it ended in 1973. The United States is located 9000 miles away from Vietnam and still it participated in the war only because it felt that its national interest was threatened strongly. The US feared that there could be the spread of communism and its entry was therefore to stop the spread of communism in Asia.

As a result of the Vietnam War, there are significant outcomes being evident such as economic downturn, and political isolation of Vietnam. The war also resulted in the fall of the South Vietnamese government in 1975 and it ultimately led to the formation of a unified communist government in the country. The effect of the Vietnam War is also identified in the form of staggering death toll, as it was identified that the war has resulted into the killing of estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops and 200000 South Vietnamese troops.  Although there were significant killings identified in the war from both sides, the US failed to comprehensively win the war. The reasons identified for its losses are that the Americans were an invading force, and Vietnamese were fighting on their own soil. There was also a lack of commitment identified on the part of Americans in terms of winning the war. The war led to lessons learnt by the US that there is a need for the right motivation to intervene in a conflict, as it drives the most effective strategy and clear goals to achieve from the conflict. However, this was completely lacking on the part of the US which led to their defeat in the Vietnam war.

How to write an essay on Vietnam war

Writing an essay on the Vietnam War requires a good understanding and knowledge about the war, and also the ability to write essays properly. Writing an essay requires proper introduction, body and conclusion, and it is important to cover relevant information in all these sections of an essay. The introduction must include a brief background about the war indicating the period from which the war lasted, the main parties involved in the war, and the major reason for which the war was fought between the involved parties. The body section must include an in-depth analysis covering the causes of war, the actual strategies and techniques utilised by the parties involved in the war, the consequences of the war and final result explaining which side has won the war. The final conclusion must include a brief discussion about the findings from the entire analysis about the war. The professional experts are well aware of the approach to be undertaken in writing a Vietnam War essay in order to provide good understanding about the topic to the readers. They can answer important Vietnam war essay questions perfectly such as:

1)      ‘ … All the military might of a superpower could not defeat a small nation of peasants.’ Critically discuss this statement in the light of the United States of America’s involvement in Vietnam between 1965 and 1975. Use relevant examples to support your answer.

2)      “America failed to stop the expansion of communism in Vietnam” Do you agree with this statement?

Why did US lose the Vietnam war essay

In terms of killings in the war, it is clear that the US along with its ally South Vietnam succeeded in killing a large number of people from North Vietnam, the overall situation indicated that the US failed to win the war against Vietnam. This is mainly because US has utilised aerial bombing and chemical weapons to destroy Vietnamese villages and has lost a great amount of support from Vietnamese people including both North and South Vietnam. Since the war was also aired on TV, there was strong opposition faced by the USA in the US itself, as a growing number of people from the USA opposed the involvement of the USA in Vietnam.  The cost and casualty of the war had a massive adverse impact on the United States to bear and it ultimately withdrew itself from the war by 1973. As a result of this, South Vietnam fell into full scale invasion by the North by 1975.

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LESSON PLAN

The vietnam war.

Pairing a Primary & Secondary Source

Read the Article

Fifty years ago, the U.S. ended direct military involvement in a war that tore the nation apart and fueled distrust in government.

Before reading.

1. Set Focus Pose these essential questions: Why do countries go to war? How do wars affect countries?

2. List Vocabulary Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below) . Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• protracted (p. 18)
• ideologies (p. 18)
• disillusioned (p. 19)
• conscripted (p. 20)
• stalemate (p. 20)
• reconciliation (p. 21)

3. Engage Have students examine the map on page 18. Ask: What did the demilitarized zone divide? Why do you think Vietnam divided into North and South Vietnam? Why do you think the two Vietnams reunified? Why do you think what used to be called Saigon is now called Ho Chi Minh City? Explain that the article answers these questions.

Analyze the Article

4. Read and Discuss Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Vietnam War. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions and ask students to cite text evidence when answering them:

• Which central ideas does the author introduce in the first section? Which of these ideas is developed in the first few paragraphs of the next section, “Fighting Communism”? (In the first section, the author introduces the ideas that the U.S. had been involved in Vietnam for nearly 20 years, that the involvement had turned into a war, that both North Vietnam and the U.S. were looking to end the war, and that the war had become very unpopular with Americans. The next section explains how U.S. involvement in Vietnam began.)
• What is the connection between the Cold War and the Vietnam War? (The Cold War was a conflict between the democracies of the West and the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union to spread their ideologies. President Dwight D. Eisenhower feared that if South Vietnam fell to Communist North Vietnam, then there would be a domino effect of Communist regimes taking control of the Asian continent. So he sent U.S. advisory troops to support South Vietnamese soldiers. Later presidents increased involvement.)
• What does the section header “The War at Home” indicate the section will be about? What caused the war at home? What effects did it have? (The section header indicates that the section will discuss some sort of conflict back in the U.S. related to the Vietnam War. The conflict was that more and more people were becoming critical of the war. Effects include protests against the war and a youth movement.)
• The last section explains that in Vietnam, the conflict is called the American War. Why do you think this is? (Responses will vary, but students should support their ideas with evidence, such as the text details about millions of U.S. soldiers being sent to fight in Vietnam, the anger Le Duc Tho expressed at the Paris Peace Accords, and North Vietnamese forces quickly overrunning the South after the cease-fire.)

5. Use the Primary Sources Use the Primary Source: Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF A Vietnam Veteran Remembers , which features excerpts from a personal essay published in 2017 by Phil Gioia about his experiences fighting in Vietnam. Discuss what makes the essay a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of these excerpts from Gioia’s personal essay? (The tone can be described as reflective and straightforward as well as critical in certain parts. The purpose is to describe what it was like to fight during the Vietnam War and to provide a perspective on the effectiveness of U.S. efforts in Vietnam.)
• In the first paragraph, Gioia says “Very lofty.” What does he mean? What was the reality he encountered? (By “very lofty,” Gioia means that the goal of preventing South Vietnam from falling to Communism was noble but difficult to achieve. The reality he encountered was that most soldiers were fighting to simply survive and return home.)
• What is Gioia’s assessment of the North Vietnamese army? Which details help show why he thinks this? (Gioia saw the North Vietnamese army as the enemy because that was his job, but he also respected their skill and determination. His descriptions of them as being “good light infantry” and having an ability to “control the tempo of the war” shows that he recognized their skill. His commentary that their “ability to move troops and equipment south never seemed to slack” and that they ignored truce periods to strategic advantage shows he viewed them as determined.)
• What ideas does Gioia convey through the three questions he asks and answers at the end of his essay? (Through his three questions and responses, Gioia conveys the idea that it was very unlikely that the U.S. would have succeeded—no matter what it tried—in preventing South Vietnam from being defeated by North Vietnam and falling to Communism. He also conveys the idea that the war was so complex that even today it’s hard to recognize what lessons we should have learned from it.) 
• Based on the Upfront article and the excerpts from Gioia’s personal essay, why do you think there were so many student protests against the war in the late 1960s and early 1970s? (Students’ responses will vary but should be supported by evidence from both texts.)

Extend & Assess

6. Writing Prompt Read “Escape From Cuba” in the previous issue of Upfront . Based on that article and this one, why do you think one embargo on a Communist country was lifted but not the other one? Explain in a brief essay. 

7. Quiz Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate Should the U.S. reinstate the military draft?

9. Speaking With Meaning Display a photo of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Ask: Why do you think the design for the memorial was originally criticized? Then have students research the memorial and Maya Lin’s vision for it. Bring the class together to discuss why today the memorial is seen as a powerful tribute to those who died in the war.

Download a PDF of this Lesson Plan

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Extension of the Cold War Case Study Vietnam Essay – Grade 12 History

Extension of the Cold War Case Study Vietnam Essay – Grade 12 History Answer Guide based on the memo.

All the military might of the United States of America’s army could not defeat a small nation of Vietnamese peasants.

Critically discuss this statement in the context of the military strategies that both the United States of America and the Vietcong used in Vietnam between 1963 and 1973.

Answer Guide:

Plan and construct an original argument based on relevant evidence using analytical and interpretative skills.

Candidates must critically discuss why the USA was unable to defeat a small nation of Vietnamese peasants during the Vietnam War between 1963 and 1973.

An outline of the tactics and strategies employed by the USA’s army and the Vietmihn/Vietcong (National Liberation Front) during the war should be highlighted.

MAIN ASPECTS

Candidates may include the following aspects in their response:

Introduction: Candidates should critically discuss the statement and develop a relevant line of argument.

ELABORATION

USA strategies:

• Reasons for the USA’s deployment of troops to Vietnam
• Villagisation/strategic hamlet programme (USA and South Vietnam government created new villages and attempted to separate villagers (farmers) from guerrillas) of which it was a failure
• Gulf of Tonkin resolution (1964) gave President Johnson wide military powers resulting in the escalation of warfare in Vietnam
• The USA’s mass aerial bombing – “Operation Rolling Thunder”
• Operation Ranch Hand (used chemicals to destroy forests (Agent Orange) and crops (Agent Blue)
• US sent young and inexperienced soldiers to Vietnam
• US used search and destroy missions (My Lai massacre) to destroy villages supported by Viet Cong (this resulted in a number of civilian deaths)
• The role of the media, students and disarmament movements in bringing pressure on the US government to withdraw from Vietnam
• President Nixon’s Vietnamisation policy/including WHAM (Winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese) was an attempt by the USA to withdraw from war and save face
• The USA withdraw all troops by 1973 and North Vietnam took control of Saigon in 1975
• Any other relevant response

Vietcong strategies:

• North Vietnam received military support from the USSR and China so the Vietminh and Vietcong had access to some modern weapons
• Guerrilla warfare was effectively used by the Vietcong, supported by Vietminh from the north and used tactics such as booby traps, underground tunnels, hit and run and sabotage
• Tet offensive (1968) was launched by Vietminh and Vietcong against urban centres and USA bases throughout Vietnam
• The local Vietnamese population supported the Vietcong to liberate their country
• Ho Chi Minh Trail used by Vietminh (North) to support Vietcong in the south
• The Vietcong increased its support base because of the tactics used against the USA soldiers
• Vietnamese were united in the defence of their country
• Conclusion: Candidates should tie-up their arguments with relevant conclusions.

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Attacks on Walz’s Military Record

By Robert Farley , D'Angelo Gore and Eugene Kiely

Posted on August 8, 2024 | Updated on August 12, 2024 | Corrected on August 9, 2024

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino .

In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of “stolen valor.”

We’ll sort through the facts surrounding the three main attacks on Walz’s military record and let readers decide their merit. The claims include:

• Vance claimed that Walz “dropped out” of the National Guard when he learned his battalion was slated to be deployed to Iraq. Walz retired to focus on a run for Congress two months before his unit got official word of impending deployment, though the possibility had been rumored for months.
• Vance also accused Walz of having once claimed to have served in combat, when he did not. While advocating a ban on assault-style weapons, Walz said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” Update, Aug. 12: The Harris campaign says that Walz “misspoke.”
• The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank in campaign materials. The Harris campaign website salutes Walz for “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” Walz did rise to that rank, but he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major.

A native of West Point, Nebraska, Walz joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, two days after his 17th birthday. When Walz and his wife moved to Minnesota in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.

“While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B – a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant,” according to a statement released by Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

According to MPR News , Walz suffered some hearing impairment related to exposure to cannon booms during training over the years, and he underwent some corrective surgery to address it.

On Aug. 3, 2003, “Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery … to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Governor Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment,” Augé stated. The deployment lasted about eight months.

“For 24 years I proudly wore the uniform of this nation,” Walz said at a rally in Philadelphia where he was announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. “The National Guard gave me purpose. It gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Walz’s Retirement from the National Guard

In recent years, however, several of his fellow guard members have taken issue with the timing of Walz’s retirement from the National Guard in May 2005, claiming he left to avoid a deployment to Iraq.

Vance, who served a four-year active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent, serving in Iraq for six months in 2005, advanced that argument at a campaign event on Aug. 7.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

In early 2005, Walz, then a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School, decided to run for public office. In a 2009 interview Walz provided as part of the Library of Congress’ veterans oral history project, Walz said he made the decision to retire from the National Guard to “focus full time” on a run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District (which he ultimately won in 2006). Walz said he was “really concerned” about trying to seek public office and serve in the National Guard at the same time without running afoul of the Hatch Act , which limits political speech by federal employees, including members of the National Guard.

Federal Election Commission records show that Walz filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10, 2005.

On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press release titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.”

Three days prior, the release said, “the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. … The announcement from the National Guard PAO specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”

According to the release, “When asked about his possible deployment to Iraq Walz said, ‘I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.’ Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. ‘As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.'”

On March 23, 2005, the Pipestone County Star reported, “Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006.”

“Major Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard said a brigade-sized contingent of soldiers could be expected to be called to Iraq, but he was not, at this time, aware of which batteries would be called,” the story said. “All soldiers in the First Brigade combat team of the 34th Division, Minnesota National Guard, could be eligible for call-up. ‘We don’t know yet what the force is like’ he said. ‘It’s too early to speculate, if the (soldiers) do go.’

“He added: ‘We will have a major announcement if and when the alert order moves ahead.’”

ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”

“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.

“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”

In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

But not all of Walz’s fellow Guard members felt that way.

In a paid letter to the West Central Tribune in Minnesota in November 2018, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr — both retired command sergeants major in the Minnesota National Guard — wrote, “On May 16th, 2005 he [Walz] quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress. Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening,” they wrote. “When the nation called, he quit.”

Walz retired on May 16, 2005. Walz’s brigade received alert orders for mobilization on July 14, 2005, according to the National Guard and MPR News . The official mobilization report came the following month, and the unit mobilized and trained through the fall. It was finally deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2006.

The unit was originally scheduled to return in February 2007, but its tour was extended four months as part of President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy , the National Guard reported. In all, the soldiers were mobilized for 22 months.

Responding to Vance’s claim that Walz retired to avoid deploying to Iraq, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement saying, “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”

Walz on Carrying a Weapon ‘in War’

Vance also called Walz “dishonest” for a claim that Walz made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control.

“He made this interesting comment that the Kamala Harris campaign put out there,” Vance said, referring to a video of Walz that the Harris campaign posted to X on Aug. 6. “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

In the video , Walz, who was campaigning for governor at the time, talked about pushing back on the National Rifle Association and said: “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. … I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can do [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research. We can make sure we don’t have reciprocal carry among states. And we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

But, as Vance indicated, there is no evidence that Walz carried a weapon “in war.”

Update, Aug. 12: In an Aug. 10 statement to CNN, the Harris campaign told CNN that Walz “misspoke.”

“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in the statement. “He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them.”

As we said, Augé, in her statement, said Walz’s battalion deployed “to support Operation Enduring Freedom” on Aug. 3, 2003, and “supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and he returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Augé said. There was no mention of Walz serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or another combat zone.

In the 2009 interview for the veterans history project, Walz said he and members of his battalion initially thought they would “shoot artillery in Afghanistan,” as they had trained to do. That didn’t happen, he said, explaining that his group ended up helping with security and training while stationed at an Army base in Vicenza.

“I think in the beginning, many of my troops were disappointed,” Walz said in the interview. “I think they felt a little guilty, many of them, that they weren’t in the fight up front as this was happening.”

In an Aug. 8 statement addressing his claim about carrying weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign noted that Walz, whose military occupational specialties included field artillery senior sergeant, “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times” in his 24 years of service.

Walz’s National Guard Rank

The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for saying “in campaign materials that he is a former ‘Command Sergeant Major’ in the Army National Guard despite not completing the requirements to hold the rank into retirement.”

Walz’s biography on the Harris campaign website correctly says that the governor “served for 24 years” in the National Guard, “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” 

Walz’s official biography on the Minnesota state website goes further, referring to the governor as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.”

“After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,” the state website says. 

Walz did serve as command sergeant major , but Walz did not complete the requirements to retire with the rank of command sergeant, Augé told us in an email. 

“He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

This isn’t the first time that Walz’s National Guard rank has come up in a campaign. 

In their 2018 paid letter to the West Central Tribune, when Walz was running for governor, the two Minnesota National Guard retired command sergeants major who criticized Walz for retiring before the Iraq deployment also wrote: “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge.”

Correction, Aug. 9: We mistakenly said a 2007 “surge” strategy in Iraq occurred under President Barack Obama. It was President George W. Bush.

Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt was an undergraduate intern at FactCheck.org from 2010 to 2011.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through  our “Donate” page . If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Tim Walz's military record: What to know about potential VP's National Guard service

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a progressive yet plain-spoken VP candidate from America’s heartland to help her win over rural, white voters.

“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate,” Harris said via text to supporters. “Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president.”

We look at Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran, and his military career over the years.

More: Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' VP pick: Minnesota governor named running mate: Live updates

How long was Walz in the military?

Walz served in the military for 24 years, enlisting in the Nebraska National Guard at 17 in 1981 and then transferring to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996. He retired in 2005 to begin his successful run for the U.S. House, representing Minnesota as command sergeant major, among the highest ranks for enlisted soldiers. His battalion went on to deploy to Iraq shortly after Walz's retirement.

Walz specialized in heavy artillery and had proficiency ribbons in sharpshooting and hand grenades.

But during the 21 years that Walz spent working with large artillery pieces, he suffered hearing loss and tinnitus in both ears, Minnesota Public Radio reported. He was allowed to continue his service after undergoing surgery, which partially resolved his hearing loss.

Where did Walz serve, and what did he do in the National Guard?

During his service, Walz responded to natural disasters, including floods and tornadoes in Minnesota and Nebraska, and was deployed overseas for months at a time, according to MPR.

In 2003, he was sent to Italy, where he served with the European Security Force to support the war in Afghanistan. He was also stationed in Norway for joint training with other NATO militaries.

Walz told MPR that he reenlisted in the National Guard after the September 11 attacks but never saw active combat in his years in the military.

Stars and Stripes reported in 2020 that Walz credited his Army experience with helping him steer Minnesota through the COVID-19 pandemic as governor.

As governor of Minnesota, Walz is commander in chief of the 13,000-soldier Minnesota National Guard. “I’m certainly proud of my military service, but it’s one piece of me,” he told Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. “It doesn’t define me.”

Reuters and USA TODAY reporter Tom Vanden Brook contributed to this story.

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Here’s a look at questions about Tim Walz’s military record

Walz’s military record under scrutiny as Vance, GOP question his service

FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, is pictured at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Republicans are questioning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record after Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate this week.

Here’s a look at the issue:

He retired before his unit’s deployment to Iraq

Walz served a total of 24 years in various units and jobs in the Army National Guard. But it’s his retirement in 2005 that’s prompting criticism from some Republicans who are suggesting he abandoned his team to pursue a campaign for Congress.

As he ramped up for a congressional bid in 2005, Walz’s campaign in March issued a statement saying he still planned to run despite a possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq. According to the Guard, Walz retired from service in May of that year.

In August 2005, the Department of the Army issued a mobilization order for Walz’s unit. The unit mobilized in October of that year before it deployed to Iraq in March 2006 .

There is no evidence that Walz timed his departure with the intent of avoiding deployment. But the fact remains that he left ahead of his unit’s departure. In a statement, the Harris campaign pushed back on GOP characterizations of Walz’s service, and also noted that he advocated for veterans once he was elected to the U.S. House.

“After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families,” the campaign said.

Before leaving Detroit, where she and Walz played up their support for organized labor , Harris on Thursday responded to a question about the criticism of her running mate’s record.

“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” she said. “And I think that we all should.”

Walz didn’t serve in a combat zone

Earlier this week Harris’ campaign circulated on X a 2018 clip of Walz speaking out against gun violence, and saying, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” That comment suggests that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone.

According to the Nebraska Army National Guard, Walz enlisted in April 1981 — just two days after his 17th birthday — and entered service as an infantryman, completing a 12-week Army infantry basic training course before graduating from high school.

While attending the University of Houston in 1985, he was reclassified as a field artillery cannoneer as a member of the Texas Army National Guard, later serving as an instructor with the Arkansas Army National Guard.

In 1987, Walz returned to Nebraska’s Guard detachment, continuing field artillery assignments while he completed a college degree. By 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota Army National Guard. In 2003, he deployed to Italy in a support position of active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he was not in a combat zone himself.

“Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Wednesday as he campaigned in Michigan. “I’d be ashamed if I was saying that I lied about my military service like you did.”

Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating high school, serving four years as a combat correspondent, a type of military journalist, and deploying to Iraq in that capacity in 2005.

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Neither Trump nor Harris has served in the U.S. military. Trump received a series of deferments during Vietnam, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating that he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.

The Harris campaign statement said Walz “would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country” and “thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.”

What about his rank?

Harris’ campaign has referred to Walz as a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier. He did in fact achieve that rank, but personnel files show he was reduced in rank months after retiring. That left him as a master sergeant for benefits purposes.

Minnesota National Guard officials have said that Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, along with other requirements associated with his promotion.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Trenton Daniel and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP