The Briefing Room
General Category => Military/Defense News => Topic started by: mystery-ak on February 18, 2014, 07:43:40 pm
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http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20140218/APC0101/302180193/Wisconsin-National-Guard-funeral-photo-sparks-outrage (http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20140218/APC0101/302180193/Wisconsin-National-Guard-funeral-photo-sparks-outrage)
Wisconsin National Guard coffin photo sparks outrage
Feb. 18, 2014 12:46 PM
(http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20140218&Category=APC0101&ArtNo=302180193&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Wisconsin-National-Guard-coffin-photo-sparks-outrage)
MADISON — A Wisconsin soldier’s photo posted on social media sparked outrage nationwide and prompted a military investigation Tuesday.
The Wisconsin National Guard confirmed that a full-time funeral honor guard member posted the photo that shows a team smiling around a flag-draped casket with the caption, “We put the FUN in funeral.”
Maj. Paul Rickert, a Guard spokesman said public affairs staff learned of the photo late Monday.
“The National Guard takes the responsibility for our fallen soldiers and veterans very seriously and we expect soldiers to handle it with professionalism and honor,” Rickert said.
The photo was taken with an empty casket at a training facility in Arkansas, Rickert said. A second photo has drawn attention from the same social media account depicting the female soldier complaining about the cold weather in Wisconsin and an upcoming outdoor funeral.
Spc. Terry Harrison, who posted the photo on Instagram, was “indefinitely suspended,” Rickert said. She is a member of the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment.
Rickert said the Guard does not prohibit soldiers from posting on social media, but has rules that members must “perform professionally and not dishonor the military.”
By Tuesday morning, hundreds of people had posted on the Wisconsin National Guard Facebook page, many reposting the photo and expressing disgust.
Rickert said a decision was made to leave the page online, and allow anyone to vent. He said special affairs staff was monitoring the page for threats and offensive language.
“The specialist involved has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” Rickert said. “She has received death threats to her, and her family.”
Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar, Wisconsin’s adjutant general, issued a written statement about the “controversial and distasteful” photos Tuesday.
“We expect all of our soldiers and airmen to live by a core set of values, in word and deed,” Dunbar said. “I was appalled by the offensive photos and comments that appeared on this soldier’s social media site regarding her duties as a funeral honor guard member.”
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Where is their CO or 1sg....disgusting!
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Outrageous. It is the kind of photo that saddens the spirit.
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Spc. Terry Harrison, who posted the photo on Instagram, was “indefinitely suspended
What is that..suspended?....my former 1sgt hubby wants to know WTF is that!
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What has happened to this country.
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(http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20140218&Category=APC0101&ArtNo=302180193&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Wisconsin-National-Guard-coffin-photo-sparks-outrage)
This is as they admitted staged and posed. Also promoting gay guys in the military. It is sick in not only promoting soldiers as fairy nice men (if you are offended too damned bad) but as a political statement and being giddy around a soldiers coffin. It is disrespectful.
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It's a squad dicking about around an empty coffin during training. Nothing more than that.
If the coffin had someone in it, it would be different. Very different.
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It's a squad dicking about around an empty coffin during training. Nothing more than that.
If the coffin had someone in it, it would be different. Very different.
Wrong. Doesn't matter if there is someone in it or not, the image is disrespectful - we have lost a lot of good people the last twelve years and a coffin is not a prop for a joke.
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It's a squad dicking about around an empty coffin during training. Nothing more than that.
If the coffin had someone in it, it would be different. Very different.
They may be *dicking* around but they are being disrespectful....and they are idiots too boot for being in the photo.....kick them all out!
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Wrong. Doesn't matter if there is someone in it or not, the image is disrespectful - we have lost a lot of good people the last twelve years and a coffin is not a prop for a joke.
Yes. With all due respect, it is.
Every single one of them knows full well that they might be the occupant of that box. If you let the thought get you down, you freeze at the worst possible time. Gallows humor, it's called. Coarse, insensitive and keeps people sane.
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It maybe gallows humor but they showed poor judgment by having their pictures taken...idiots all of them!
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Yes. With all due respect, it is.
Every single one of them knows full well that they might be the occupant of that box. If you let the thought get you down, you freeze at the worst possible time. Gallows humor, it's called. Coarse, insensitive and keeps people sane.
And they will NEVER understand it!
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And they will NEVER understand it!
I sincerely hope not! You know as well as I it is the roughest thing to deal with. Heading out knowing you are going to die.
Is the picture tasteless? Probably. Should it have been posted? No. Is it understandable? Totally.
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I sincerely hope not! You know as well as I it is the roughest thing to deal with. Heading out knowing you are going to die.
Is the picture tasteless? Probably. Should it have been posted? No. Is it understandable? Totally.
Yep! Agree on all points!
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And they will NEVER understand it!
I get the gallows humor part. What I don't get is the guys hugging. It seems like a Pajama Boy political statement with gallows humor.
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Yes. With all due respect, it is.
Every single one of them knows full well that they might be the occupant of that box. If you let the thought get you down, you freeze at the worst possible time. Gallows humor, it's called. Coarse, insensitive and keeps people sane.
Disagree on all points and I don't think for a second this was gallows humor...they aren't that bright!
Like hubby just said good thing he retired when he did...
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I get the gallows humor part. What I don't get is the guys hugging. It seems like a Pajama Boy political statement with gallows humor.
Why? Or, more accurately, why not? It's a different world. Someone touching you, just on the arm, when you've had a shitty day is one of the most precious gifts you can be given. A quick hug is normal - a way of saying, "Yep, we're still here."
It's about as gay as a touchdown celebration.
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Nope. Gallows humor not withstanding and a quick hug that looks more like a gay intimate embrace...neither is fit to use the uniform or the flag for a prop. Totally tasteless, disrespectful and behavior that is hideous.
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Yes. With all due respect, it is.
Every single one of them knows full well that they might be the occupant of that box. If you let the thought get you down, you freeze at the worst possible time. Gallows humor, it's called. Coarse, insensitive and keeps people sane.
Depends if they've all come back from being deployed or if they're just a bunch of desk jockeys who got daddy to get them a cushy (safe) detail. Remember, these are Wisconsin National Guard. Some of them only play G.I. Joe.
I'll hold judgement either way until I know more about them individually. If they've been through rough times overseas, well - bad taste and all, but. If they're spoiled brats making a mockery - court marshal their sorry asses.
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Why? Or, more accurately, why not? It's a different world. Someone touching you, just on the arm, when you've had a shitty day is one of the most precious gifts you can be given. A quick hug is normal - a way of saying, "Yep, we're still here."
It's about as gay as a touchdown celebration.
This is not a regular hug. Soldiers don't hug like that in pictures unless they are gay and making a political statement. The gallows humor is pushing it. This is an obvious pajama boy gay political statement. and the other three are seemingly innocuous but one guy is putting his hand down the one soldiers shirt. It is not only beyond gallows humor; it is weird and I'd bet a political statement made at the site of a coffin.
(http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20140218&Category=APC0101&ArtNo=302180193&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Wisconsin-National-Guard-coffin-photo-sparks-outrage)
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Depends if they've all come back from being deployed or if they're just a bunch of desk jockeys who got daddy to get them a cushy (safe) detail. Remember, these are Wisconsin National Guard. Some of them only play G.I. Joe.
I'll hold judgement either way until I know more about them individually. If they've been through rough times overseas, well - bad taste and all, but. If they're spoiled brats making a mockery - court marshal their sorry asses.
They may be making a mockery, I agree. But nowadays the national guard are sent to the front line. No more weekend warriors. I could over look the hugging and gayness and tomfoolery if the coffin empty or not were not there.
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This is not a regular hug. Soldiers don't hug like that in pictures unless they are gay and making a political statement. The gallows humor is pushing it. This is an obvious pajama boy gay political statement. and the other three are seemingly innocuous but one guy is putting his hand down the one soldiers shirt. It is not only beyond gallows humor; it is weird and I'd bet a political statement made at the site of a coffin.
(http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20140218&Category=APC0101&ArtNo=302180193&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Wisconsin-National-Guard-coffin-photo-sparks-outrage)
Then I guess I won't post the picture of my ex-husband, in uniform, with a magnolia flower behind his ear, getting hugged and kissed on the cheek by another uniformed man at our ETS party. I'd hate to think after all these years and a couple of kids I had married a homosexual.
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They may be making a mockery, I agree. But nowadays the national guard are sent to the front line. No more weekend warriors. I could over look the hugging and gayness and tomfoolery if the coffin empty or not were not there.
Exactly..
...and one more thing...I am sorry to see after all these years in Iraq and Afghanistan that people still refer to the Guard as Weekend Warriors....they have fought alongside and died with the regulars...they are the backbone of the military....and that nick no longer applies if it ever did.
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Then I guess I won't post the picture of my ex-husband, in uniform, with a magnolia flower behind his ear, getting hugged and kissed on the cheek by another uniformed man at our ETS party. I'd hate to think after all these years and a couple of kids I had married a homosexual.
That made me smile. The sort of foolishness a unit gets up to when they let their hair down and party! :laugh:
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My niece is a Staff Sargeant in the Air Force, and a military journalist. Has been to Germany, Okinawa, Afghanistan and Turkey overseas, and only recently posted online--when back stateside. Incidentally they hated Turkey.
Her posts are patriotic, and tasteful. I think the service people have been told to post nothing controvertial or to bring disgrace on their service, or embarras themselves.
Technically standards of behavior are identical for active duty, reservists and National Guard. The article indicates at least some of the photo participants got into trouble.
Enough said. During my service, soldiers did bad stuff, too.
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Depends if they've all come back from being deployed or if they're just a bunch of desk jockeys who got daddy to get them a cushy (safe) detail. Remember, these are Wisconsin National Guard. Some of them only play G.I. Joe.
I'll hold judgement either way until I know more about them individually. If they've been through rough times overseas, well - bad taste and all, but. If they're spoiled brats making a mockery - court marshal their sorry asses.
It's hard to understand how anyone can not see this as totally inapropriate under any circumstance. Gallows humor should not be meant for public consumption and any kind of humor, at the expense of fallen heroes, is as low as it gets
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It's a squad dicking about around an empty coffin during training. Nothing more than that.
If the coffin had someone in it, it would be different. Very different.
Absolutely.