Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who served 25 years in the National Guard in two states, was chosen for the National Guard Association of the United States Harry S. Truman Award, the association’s highest honor. Walz is the first retired noncommissioned officer selected by the association board to receive the award named for a Guardsman who also served in elected office. He was to be presented the honor this morning  at the National Guard Armory in Mankato.

Walz was a member of the Nebraska Army National Guard from 1981 to 1996 and the Minnesota Army Guard from 1996 to 2005. He retired as a command sergeant major and was elected the next year to the U.S. House of Representatives.