Tim Walz traveled to Bagram Airfield as a U.S. congressman. The claim that Walz implied that such trips were part of his service in the National Guard, or that he incorrectly stated that Bagram was in Iraq, stem from a written version of his remarks at a 9/11 memorial service that differ from the remarks he actually gave.
In the wake of renewed interest in how Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has described his service in the National Guard, right-leaning accounts on X claimed to have caught Walz in a case of stolen valor: falsely claiming to have seen combat. The evidence? A video of Walz "claiming he was on the tarmac in Bagram":
The video shared in support of the claim is a real speech Walz gave as governor of Minnesota on Sept. 11, 2021, for the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks. However, it does not catch Walz in a lie. In the speech, shown below, Walz never claimed that he went to Bagram as a soldier, and he also never claimed that Bagram Airfield, located in Afghanistan, was in Iraq.
The confusion stems, in part, from an official Minnesota publication that collected the 20th-anniversary remarks of various Minnesota politicians. This collection contains a version of the speech that differs significantly from the one Walz actually gave.
In the print version, the words attributed to Walz differ in at least two key ways. First, the printed remarks described Walz's National Guard service closer to the part of the speech where he recounted his time on Bagram. Second, the printed remarks incorrectly placed Bagram Air Force base in Iraq (emphasis ours):
In the years after [9/11], I had the privilege of serving in this state's national guard. I stood one night in the dark of night on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Iraq and watched a military ramp ceremony–a soldier's body being loaded onto a plane to be returned home. And if you've seen it, you don't leave the same.
In the actual speech however, Walz's mention of the National Guard is separated from his mention of Bagram, and it is raised in the context of his not having given the ultimate sacrifice, saying that he was always able to return home to his daughter, unlike two mothers who lost their sons in combat who spoke before him. He also does not mention Bagram being in Iraq (emphasis ours):
In the years that happened after [9/11], I had the privilege of serving in this state's National Guard. And when I left, I had a 2-year-old. When I came home, I had a 3-year-old.
But as I listened to [Jill Stephenson and Mariah Jacobsen, gold star mothers who spoke before Walz] … the guilt. … I came home and my daughter went on. And when you're 2 and 3, she knew no difference. That's not true for some. They can't do that.
And over the preceding [sic] years of watching us and as our nation changed, and as our political systems became more difficult for all of us to understand, I stood one night in the dark of night on the tarmac at Bagram and watched a military ramp ceremony. And if you've seen it, which these folks many have, unfortunately, you don't leave the same.
Walz has, in fact, traveled to Bagram Airfield and did witness a military ramp ceremony — in his capacity as a U.S. congressman. On Jan. 9, 2008, as part of a nine-day tour of the Middle East, Walz stayed overnight at Bagram Airfield and participated in a fallen comrade ceremony, according to a news release.
"I went to the Middle East last week to find out how we can continue to improve the health care soldiers receive, from the time they're injured on the battlefield until they conclude their recovery at a major military medical facility," Walz said in a statement upon his return. "It is clear to me that we have great medical professionals and incredibly brave soldiers, but what we don't have is a streamlined medical records system. I am committed to changing this."
Because the printed version of Walz's remarks are incorrect with regard to Iraq, because the full context of his actual remarks makes clear he is speaking of a time after his service in the National Guard, and because he has actually been to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and witnessed the return of fallen soldiers on that tarmac, the claim is "False."