People who joined the military in the wake of the September 11 attacks have now retired from the military.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Badlands MediaSep 16, 2026
The claim is a generic statement that people who joined the military after September 11 have since retired, and sources directly show this happening. The VA source describes Jerome Horrace, who joined in 2002 and retired after 18.5 years, and Snopes reports that Tim Walz re-enlisted after 9/11 and later retired from the Guard after 24 years.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… That's the Marine Barr- ah battalion that's in DC Like, they do all the honor guard stuff and like all that stuff up there. I talked about you a little bit on Culture of Change last night, by the way. Oh. I guess about a 9-11 movie. And they were talking about how people that joined the military in the wake of 9-11 have now retired from the military. And, uh, you know, a lot of the, It was an awkward conversation in some ways, and a lot of the awkwardness stemmed around, uhm, is it disrespectful to the heroes of 9-11 and the heroes of the military in the wake of 9-11 to talk about the truth about 9-11? …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A 2026 VA story describes Army veteran Jerome Horrace, who joined in 2002 (after 9/11) and was medically retired after 18.5 years of service.[2]
Supports. Snopes reports that Tim Walz re-enlisted in the Guard after the 9/11 attacks and served 24 years before retiring.[1]
Supports. Military Times reports that thousands of post-9/11 veterans are approaching retirement eligibility, consistent with a growing number having already retired.[3]
Context. The claim is generic and does not specify a number, so the examples establish that such retirements occur rather than their scale. The NYT and NBC pieces on post-9/11 enlistees do not contradict the claim.[4][5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 2 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Has Tim Walz Misrepresented His Military Service? - Snopes.comsnopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Honoring Those Who Enlisted In The Military Post 9/11va.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3www.militarytimes.com › news › your-militaryCan the US military preserve decades of wartime experience?militarytimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4www.nytimes.com › 2026/09/10 › us9/11 Led Them to Enlist. Here’s What They’re Saying Now.nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 59/11 motivated many Americans to serve. What did it cost them?nbcwashington.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post