Senator Vance is leaning into his attacks on Governor Walz regarding his past Army National Guard service, saying that any misrepresentations about it are nothing less than “stolen valor.” 

Mr. Vance, appearing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Pennsylvania, was aiming to keep the stories about Mr. Walz’s military record in the news. He says Mr. Walz lied about carrying a firearm “in war,” lied about the rank he attained before retirement, and lied about why he left the Guard when he did. 

“Let’s just summarize the truth: Tim Walz said that he carried a weapon in war. He never went to war. Tim Walz said that he didn’t know his unit was about to deploy to Iraq, when even his own press release at the time said that he knew exactly that,” Mr. Vance said. 

Mr. Walz has said he “misspoke” when he said during a campaign for Congress that he had carried a weapon “in war.” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked about Mr. Vance’s event. 

Mr. Vance said the point of attacking Mr. Walz was not to denigrate his “honorable service” in the National Guard, but rather it is about “disparaging the dishonesty.”

Mr. Walz has received both condemnation and support from fellow members of the Minnesota National Guard. According to ABC News, one retired command sergeant major, Thomas Behrends, wrote to Mr. Walz when he was a congressman in 2016, asking him to stop referring to himself as a command sergeant major because, while he was promoted to the rank, he did not complete the requisite training to retire with the title. 

“It saddens me that after your long career in the National Guard, that you did not fulfill the conditions of your promotion to Command Sergeant Major,” the fellow veteran wrote. “It’s quite a title to have, when it has been earned. I would hope that you haven’t been using the rank for political gain, but that is how it appears.”

Another man who served alongside Mr. Walz told CNN that attacks on his former colleague’s service were going too far, and that he saw an honorable man in Mr. Walz. That man also noted that he would be voting for President Trump in November. 

At an event addressing union members at Los Angeles on Wednesday, Mr. Walz spoke about the criticism he has been facing. “These guys … are even attacking me or my record of service,” he said. “And I just want to say, I’m proud to serve my country, and I always will be.”

Mr. Vance appeared alongside three veterans who now serve as members of Congress — Congressman Michael Waltz, the first Green Beret to serve in the House; Congressman Brian Mast, a double amputee from his time in combat; and Congressman Jim Banks, who served a tour in Afghanistan with the Navy. 

A candidate for Congress in North Carolina who served as a Green Beret, Pat Harrigan, also attended the event to talk about Mr. Walz’s service. He says veterans across America “scream ‘stolen valor’” because the Minnesota governor is guilty of the charge. 

“Tim Walz is a coward who betrayed his men at their greatest time of need, and is not fit to serve the United States of America as vice president,” Mr. Harrigan said. “We believe it is unforgivable to do what Tim Walz did.”

“How dare Tim Walz simply call it simple partisan attacks,” Mr. Harrigan added. 

The Pennsylvania event took place three years after the Taliban took control of Kabul, Afghanistan — an event that Republicans say is the perfect example of why Vice President Harris should be kept as far from the Oval Office as possible. In an interview with CNN in 2021 that has been making the rounds in conservative circles online, Ms. Harris said she had been the last person in the room with President Biden when he made the decision the pull American troops out of Afghanistan. 

Messrs. Vance and Walz have committed to a debate on October 1 on CBS News, though Mr. Vance said he would be happy to debate in mid-September on CNN. In a statement Thursday, the Harris-Walz campaign said “the debate about debates is over,” and that their candidates would only participate in the October 1 debate and two debates between Trump and Ms. Harris, one on September 10 and another in October.