An Open Letter From a Combat Veteran to Governor Tim Walz

Matthew J. Funicello             

Los Angeles County, Ca

08/14/24

Timothy James Walz

Governor

Minnesota

Dear Timothy James Walz:

I am writing this open letter in an attempt to bring to light the frustration of me personally and my fellow brothers and sisters of the Veteran Community that I know feel the same way I do. I do so with the pure intention of giving you an honest but blunt reaction to the findings being brought to light about not only your service in the Minnesota National Guard but your statements and conversations you had as a politician where you used your military background as a basis for your political goals. 

First, let me say that while I generally have no animus towards you as a person, I do not know you personally, nor do I claim to know you or your family. However, I do know Governor Tim Walz, former Congressman Tim Walz, and former Master Sergeant Tim Walz. I know what you and others have made public about yourself as a public figure. 

To be as transparent as possible, I am a staunch constitutional conservative, and I obviously disagree with your political and ideological beliefs, as I am sure you would feel the same about mine. This is not about your personal politics, per se; it is more about how you maneuver politically. Meaning, I am writing this to tell you that I vehemently disagree with your use of your military background to move within the political machine. 

I served for five years on active duty in the Marine Corps. I signed on for four but extended a year on my contract so I could go back to Iraq with my boys. I enlisted in the Corps when I was 17, like you, in 1999, when I was a junior in high school, then went to boot camp in August of 2000 and was honorably discharged from the Corps in 2005. I was just a grunt; I wasn’t anything special or sexy. But I served and I served in combat, twice. I saw and experienced the horrors of war. I saw the death and destruction that comes with it. You never went there, and that is fine; I do not begrudge you or any other who never made it to Iraq or to Afghanistan or any other place Americans were sent and saw combat. I do begrudge you for claiming you did, however. 

Sir, to be blunt, I find your use of your service and the lies, misinformation, and outright falsification of your service record to be reprehensible. We both know how the media and the general public, with no knowledge of how the military works and or operates, will not know when to question one’s statements on military service, nor will they recognize and or understand what you mean when you said that you “came back” from supporting OEF. For the layperson, that means to them that you deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq and probably saw combat. For example, when you say that you wanted to “keep weapons of war like I carried in war,” you lied to everyone by falsely claiming you went to Afghanistan and saw combat. Or when you said, “When you are one of those that came back, we were in support of OEF, but being sitting in there with OEF, OIF, Veterans, when we came back…” in a public Congressional hearing regarding Veterans issues, to the general public, you served in Afghanistan in support of OEF. You never bothered to clarify your exact service, no matter how honorable it was, because it would not have fit your narrative. 

When you use the rank of Command Sergeant Major on your official Governor webpage as the rank you retired from, it is a lie by omission at best and a flat-out lie at worst. Public records requests show that you were demoted due to not fulfilling your signed commitment to attend the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. Again, I bring up the fact that without telling the public about that, the general public and mainstream media all tow your lie without question. To be clear, Sir, you have committed four major sins that a person of your life experience in the military should know are major no-nos. 

1. You actively lie about the rank you achieved and the circumstances behind it. You falsely claim that you were promoted to Command Sergeant Major and honorably retired with that rank. The facts are that you were indeed promoted to CSM; however, it was a conditional promotion/or frocking that stated you needed to attend the USASMA, or the promotion would be rescinded. You never mention that last part and never offer any clarification to legitimate questions regarding this. Instead, you and your political and media allies run cover for you and gaslight anyone who calls that into question. 
2. You and your allies publicly claim that you retired long before you were made aware of and/or saw warning orders to your unit that notified you and the command in general that your battalion was going to be deployed to Iraq in support of OIF. Without any documentation to back that up, we have to rely on your word. However, when three of your peers (who are all retired Command Sergeants Major), two of whom were in your unit and the other being your Divisional CSM, all publicly claim that you DID know of the orders. Not only did you know of and see the orders, but you also made statements to the Divisional CSM that you intended to deploy with your unit. 
3. You have made a public statement saying that you re-enlisted in 2001, shortly after the events on September 11^th, for four years. However, according to your records, your re-enlistment was for SIX years. This would mean that you terminated your contract two years earlier than you signed up for. Again, that deserves an explanation. 
4. The final and most serious of your sins was that you abandoned your troops before they went to Iraq. You lied to your senior SNCOs and other senior leadership when you told them you were going to deploy. Your final act of betrayal came when you suddenly announced your intention to retire after only completing four out of the six years you signed up for. You decided your political career was more important than leading and ensuring the welfare of your troops was carried out. As a then CSM, that was your only responsibility and one that your troops saw you walked away from. 

Rising up through the ranks, as you did, you should have learned basic leadership skills. These skills are ingrained in us by the leaders that preceded us. Only those of us who are deemed worthy get to be promoted to NCO or SNCO or get a commission or warrant as an officer. I was one of those that were deemed worthy and was promoted to Corporal. I didn’t feel at the time, nor do I feel now, that I was or am worthy of being a leader of men, but I was, and I served with the best of my ability. Troop welfare and proper leadership skills are some of the most critical assets of a good leader. They know when to be hard on our troops and when to be a mentor — when to train them into what they need to be. You failed at this basic task. 

To summarize, Sir, I do call into question the validity of your service, and I find it disgusting to try and fool the American people that you are anything other than an average American who served in the Guard and didn’t really do much. Your 24 years of service in the Guard amounted to just a few years of active service, something you made a mockery of when asked about sending in National Guard units to Minneapolis, calling them “19-year-old cooks.” If anyone is making a mockery of or slandering the service of others, it is you. You need to come clean and stop the gaslighting on those of us, like myself, who are rightfully critical of your story. You owe America, specifically those of us who answered the call and actually went to war, an apology. 

Sincerely,

Matthew J Funicello

Concerned Veteran