Tim Walz personifies the best of the working class

Gov. Tim Walz is the right vice presidential choice for our divided nation.

He didn’t spend a quarter of a century focused on crafting a rising political career. Instead, he mastered his craft as working men and women often do: by handling several jobs at once — as an enlisted service member, a high school teacher, and a football coach. Each was a working man’s profession of service.

At the end of those 25 years, Walz entered Congress, where his best salary until then — about $40,000 per year — was suddenly quadrupled. His working-class experience and roots mean he’s probably the least wealthy vice presidential candidate in history, with a net worth less than the median for citizens his age.

Why is this important? Because working-class citizens innately understand their too-often underrecognized achievements are as important as high salaries or elite positions.

Take the enlisted, the military’s working service members.

When Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, chief of the Soviet general staff, visited America in 1988, his U.S. counterpart, Adm. William J. Crowe, took him on a tour of military installations and ships. At the end, Crowe asked what most impressed the Soviet marshal about America. His reply: “Your enlisted men — we don’t have them.” Crowe noted that Akhromeyev “thought it was remarkable that enlisted people were not afraid to speak out and were not intimidated by their officers.”

Walz wore the cloth of our nation for 24 years, and was selected by merit to rise to one of the top ranks available to our military’s treasure: its enlisted men and women. Who better to have the back of working men and women in the White House?

I entered Congress with Walz, both of us representing mostly working-class districts that had been Republican for most of a century. Trusted by his constituents, he was always reelected.

As fellow veterans, we’d sit around after votes, swapping stories from our pre-political careers. Mine included sailors who had saved my tail: just one example was how a young enlisted petty officer grabbed my elbow firmly as we sailed in a fog bank and commanded me, “Turn now, Captain!” after I had failed to heed him the first time. We just missed going aground, thanks to his willingness to tell me I was wrong.

Some have questioned this working man about inartful or wrong statements regarding his working career. In answering, I believe that a politician complaining about political attacks is like a sea captain complaining about the sea. It’s better to put them into perspective.

First, the attacks Walz is experiencing may seem minor compared with the dishonorable swift boating of John Kerry, who had been awarded several Vietnam combat medals, including the Silver Star. Or the attacks on Adm. Mike Boorda, the first enlisted man and first non-Naval Academy graduate to be the chief of naval operations. Accused of having at one time inappropriately worn Vietnam combat medals, he walked out of his office and died by suicide — despite his then-commander in Vietnam, Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, insisting he had verbally authorized Boorda’s medals.

Nevertheless, the attacks must be addressed.

Walz used “retired” in front of his last Army rank, and he said once that he’d been “in war.” The military’s tradition is one of accountability — answering for what you have done — so Walz owned his mistake and corrected his misstatements.

As for Walz saying he had served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, he is justified in doing so. There were routinely five to nine support veterans serving outside Afghanistan for every military member who was deployed inside the war zone itself. His medal was for the support he provided.

Finally, in terms of the timeline of his decision to enter politics rather than deploy to Iraq, a careful reconstruction of dates — deciding to run for Congress, rumors that the unit would deploy, and actual orders to deploy — shows that he had decided to serve his country as a congressman before his unit received the actual orders to deploy.

One of our finest officers, Gen. Colin Powell, often said: “Your responsibility is to tell me what you know. Tell me what you don’t know. Then you’re allowed to tell me what you think. But you always keep those three separated.”

This maxim should be adhered to today by those still making unproven claims about an enlisted leader who served with full honor.

Joe Sestak is a former U.S. congressman (PA-07) and retired U.S. Navy rear admiral.