Come November, vice presidential nominees JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, and Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, will be the first post-9/11 veterans to make it onto a presidential ballot.
Military Times would like to learn more about their time in uniform. Did you serve with Walz or Vance, who served under the name James D. Hamel? If so, we want to hear from you. When and where did you serve with them? What impression did they leave?
Send your thoughts to nikki.wentling@militarytimes.com and lshane@militarytimes.com.
Vance joined the Marine Corps in 2003 under the name James D. Hamel and served a four-year enlistment as a combat correspondent. He deployed to Iraq with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing from August 2005 to February 2006. His last duty station was Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.
Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard. He joined the Nebraska National Guard in 1981, and he transferred in 1996 to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. In August 2003, Walz mobilized with the unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and was stationed in Vicenza, Italy.
Nikki Wentling covers disinformation and extremism for Military Times. She's reported on veterans and military communities for eight years and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.
