"He has absolutely no place … he should rip the master sergeant stripes off his shoulder, throw them down, beg forgiveness to his fellow servicemen and women. He should go to every single Gold Star family … and plead for their forgiveness."

[Rep. Derrick] Van Orden did not mince words when it came to Walz's decision to retire early when his unit was set to be deployed to Iraq, calling it "absolutely unforgivable."

"He was the acting command sergeant major for his unit," he said. "That's the senior enlisted adviser for his unit. He found out that his unit was going to be deployed to combat in Iraq and he retired. That is a cardinal sin in the military."