When soldier Kyle Miller was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on June 29, 2006, the man expected to lead them into combat was not there.
Tim Walz, who would go on to be Kamala Harris‘ running mate, left his Minnesota National Guard unit two months before it deployed – and some will never trust him again.
That includes Miller’s mother who delivered a damning verdict on Walz’s character, accusing him of taking the ‘coward’s way out’ and ‘running away’ by opting to campaign for Congress instead of going to Iraq to face danger with her son.
In an emotional interview with DailyMail.com, nearly two decades after 19-year-old Kyle’s death, Kathy Miller said: ‘I don’t think it’s fair that (Walz) takes credit when he didn’t step up to the plate.
‘Walz claims a rank he never earned. When he was called to serve, and protect our country he didn’t.
‘To publicly present false prestige of his unearned rank an inaccurate representation, is a falsehood of who he truly is.
‘My son stepped up to the plate. All our sons stepped up.
‘My son wasn’t even 21 years old. He couldn’t even buy alcohol. Yet he took the step to serve our country while Walz found the best way to run away.’
‘It was the coward’s way out.’
When American soldier Kyle Miller was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on June 29, 2006, the man expected to lead them into combat was not there
‘It makes you wonder if he will bow out in some manner, and not accomplish the job he is supposed to get done.’
Walz served for 24 years and became master sergeant in the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.
He retired in 2005 and his rank was reduced from command sergeant major because he didn’t complete the coursework for the U.S. Sergeants Major Academy.
Mrs Miller said Walz’s ‘surprising’ decision to retire from the military to pursue his political career was so he ‘wouldn’t have to go’ the frontlines of the War on Terror.
She described how when her son’s body was returned from Iraq the town of Willmar, Minnesota fell silent as his casket was driven through the streets in a silver hearse.
Members of the Minnesota National Guard, past and present, lined up to salute as his remains were taken to the town’s civic center.
One thousand mourners attended his funeral, where friends remembered how he could raise a smile with his one-line jokes.
But Mrs Miller never heard from Walz, or even his office.
If she had, the Gold Star Mother would have asked the future vice-presidential nominee why he abandoned his men before they went into a warzone.
Miller was killed when his convoy ran over an IED south of Baghdad. He was 19 years old and this image was taken the night before he was killed
Kyle told his military chaplain about a recurring dream in which he was blown up in an explosion in Iraq.
The visions were disrupting the National Guard soldier’s sleep while he was stationed just south of Baghdad with the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery unit in 2006 – when U.S. forces were experiencing heavy combat.
The chaplain offered him an out: someone else could go on operations instead.
But Miller refused and said he couldn’t bear someone dying in his place.
The next day, the specialist was in a convoy that hit an IED, and he died on the way to hospital.
He was serving in the same unit Walz retired from as its leader two months before.
Harris emphasized Walz’ military record when she introduced him as her running mate at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
He served for more than two decades in the Minnesota National Guard, responded to natural disasters, and was deployed to Italy and Norway.
In 2005 he retired so he could run for Congress and the Harris campaign has called him a ‘tireless advocate’ for veterans.
But the timing of his retirement is under intense scrutiny and he’s facing allegations of exaggerating his record.
Veterans who served in his unit have accused him of abandoning them before they went overseas.
In an emotional interview with DailyMail.com, nearly two decades after 19-year-old Kyle’s death, Kathy Miller said: ‘I don’t think it’s fair that (Walz) takes credit when he didn’t step up to the plate’
Miller’s legacy lives on in The North Star State in the form of a life-size bronze statue in Brewster, Minnesota. Kyle is kneeling in the center of a pentagon pedestal memorial to fallen soldiers
Kyle’s name sits below her mother’s at the memorial to fallen soldiers
DailyMail.com has spoken to two men who served in Walz’s unit.
The commander who took over as the leader has called Walz a ‘traitor’ who has boasted about a rank he was never given.
Mrs Miller said Walz’s ‘surprising’ decision to retire from the military to pursue his political career was so he ‘wouldn’t have to go’ and fight
Retired command sergeant major Thomas Behrends told DailyMail.com: ‘If a person is a liar and they embellish their record for political gain, then I think that the vote should be against them.
‘If the Twin Towers were burning and the firefighters were running down the street, he’d be running the other direction,’ Behrends added.
Jon Erickson, a Battalion Targeting Officer in Walz’s unit, told DailyMail.com he was relieved Walz didn’t go to Iraq because Behrends, his replacement, was an exceptional leader.
He also suggested that a combat tour may have better prepared Walz to deal with the chaos that engulfed his state in 2020.
Donald Trump has called Walz a ‘disgrace to our country’ and J.D. Vance says his rival running mate is guilty of ‘stolen valor’ – one of the biggest sins in the military.
Vance, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, told DailyMail.com on Wednesday: ‘Your job as a senior enlisted guy in a unit is to keep your people safe. That’s not a job you can switch out of on a moment’s notice’.
Walz’s gun control comments in 2018 saying ‘we shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets’ have also raised eyebrows because he didn’t see combat.
The Harris campaign have strenuously denied the allegations and insist the former teacher had decided to pursue a career on Capitol Hill long before he left the military, and point to fellow soldiers who have praised his leadership.
Miller loved to make paper roses. It’s one of the many things his mother misses about him every day
In response to Mrs Miller’s claims, Walz spokesperson Lauren Hitt told DailyMail.com: ‘The Governor honors Kyle Miller’s service and mourns him and all those fellow guardsmen and service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.
‘After 24 years of service, Governor Walz retired from the Guard to run for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform and their families – speaking out about the unacceptable human cost of these wars and increasing funding and mental health resources for the military members who served in them.’
But those he served with say he stepped aside just as rumors started to circulate that they could be deployed.
Mrs Miller still has immense pride for her son 20 years later, but her resentment for Walz lingers.
She said Kyle truly believed in his duty to serve and keep Americans free and safe.
He signed up for the National Guard during high school and had dreams of going to college.
He was three months into his Iraq tour working primarily in communications when he volunteered for an operation on June 29, 2006.
Miller says her son Kyle would keep her on her toes and was ‘smart’ even as a child. She remembers how he would make her blush every day, his sense of humor and how he was a flirt with the ladies
Minnesota National Guard soldiers pay their respects to Kyle after he was killed by the roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006
He was a passenger in the first vehicle of seven in a convoy when it ran over a roadside bomb.
The explosion blew in the doors of his Humvee and he suffered catastrophic injuries.
Colleagues rushed to get him to hospital, but their efforts were in vain.
At the same time, Walz was running his Congressional campaign for Minnesota’s 1st District. He won the election less than five months later.
Kyle’s mother found out when her daughter called her crying with the news. Then she got that knock on the door every military family dreads.
It took a week for Mrs Miller to get her son’s body back to Minnesota.
Mrs Miller was amazed by the respect shown at his funeral by those who had grown up around her son.
His legacy lives on in The North Star State in the form of a life-size bronze statue in Brewster, south west Minnesota.
Kyle is kneeling in the center of a pentagon pedestal memorial to fallen soldiers.
Twenty-one footprints made from the boots worn by Ryane Clark – a Minnesota native killed in Afghanistan in 2010 – lead to the center.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is accused of skipping out on his National Guard unit just before it deployed to Iraq in 2005 to begin his political career
Vance added he was astonished that the Harris campaign had not checked out Walz’s military record and accused him of lying to make a political point. Walz is pictured right while serving with the U.S. Army National Guard in 1992
Mrs Miller misses her son every day and with Gold Star families helps keep his memory alive with events such as the Fallen Heroes high school football game every fall.
She remembers how he would make her blush every day, his sense of humor and how he was a flirt with the ladies.
‘He kept me on my toes. He was a smart kid.’
Two-year-old Kyle had already mastered part of the alphabet and was driving round his yard in a John Deere lawn tractor.
When he was five years old he was doing the foxtrot and lighting up the dance floor in a little tuxedo and tails.
Kathy Miller (second from left) stands with Gold Star Moms at a memorial ride for veterans. (From left to right) Tracy Clark lost her son Ryane in Afghanistan, Kimberly Schmit’s son Joshua was killed in Irad, Colleen Kahler’s son Matthew was also killed and Kim Wertish lost her son James
Kathy Miller walks along the beach with a Star Spangled Banner in tribute to her son
‘At nine, he started to ask women if they were married. If they said “no” he would say “you should be” and if they said he would say “your husband is a lucky man”’, Mrs Miller said.
It’s the sort of qualities he used in Iraq, where he would bring up morale by playing pranks and always take the time to listen to colleagues.
In his unit he was known for being a good soldier. He adapted quickly in training and was detecting bombs. His senior officers knew they could trust him.
He was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant by the Minnesota National Guard.
Behrends and Mrs Miller have become friends in the years since Kyle was killed.
During one of their meetings he gave her a paper rose, which her son loved to make.
‘It was so special because I do miss all the things my son used to do’, she said.