Guardsmen’s coffin photo in NLR draws fury

MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin National Guard announced Tuesday that it had suspended a member from honor guard duties after a photograph on social media showed soldiers mugging around an empty, flag-draped coffin.

The group photograph, which was taken at a National Guard training facility at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, sparked anger on Facebook, in military chat rooms and other social media, where people saw it as disrespectful to those killed in action. No body was inside the coffin, but that’s not clear from the photograph.

The National Guard said it was taking steps to protect the soldier who posted the photograph after she received death threats through social media and other means.

The photograph originally posted on Instagram shows about a dozen soldiers clowning around a coffin draped in a flag. Several hug playfully. One flashes a peace sign. Another has his back turned and is pointing off in the distance.

The caption reads, “We put the FUN in funeral - your fearless honor guard from various states.”

The photograph was posted from an account belonging to Spc. Terry Harrison of the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment, according to the National Guard.

That account has since been closed, but others have re-posted the picture and Harrison’s comments on multiple social-media sites.

The caption for another photo suggests cold weather at an outdoor military funeral could result in poor folding of the U.S. flag presented to families from the coffins of their loved ones.

Wisconsin’s adjutant general, the leader of the state’s National Guard, expressed his anger in a statement Tuesday.

“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,” Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar said.

Judy Vincent, of Poteau, Okla., said she saw the picture when a friend re-posted it on Facebook.

“It was like somebody slapped me in the face. I’ve never in my life seen such disrespect for the fallen or the families,” said Vincent, whose son died in Iraq in 2004.

Marine Cpl. Scott Vincent was killed near Fallujah, Iraq, by a suicide bomber. His mother said Vincent’s friends served as his honor guard and she has no doubt that he was treated with respect. But she knows the photograph probably has raised doubts among other families.

“It raises questions in your mind,” Judy Vincent said. “What did they think of me and was my loved one treated with disrespect?”

Vincent was among the more than 900 people who posted comments on the Wisconsin National Guard’s Facebook page, most of them asking for Harrison and the other soldiers to be disciplined.

A Wisconsin National Guard spokesman said that although the photos and comments do not portray misconduct during an actual military funeral, they understandably have upset many people.

“A military funeral is the final show of respect for our veterans and their families, and we take that solemn duty very seriously,” Maj. Paul Rickert said in a release.

Harrison, a full-time member of the National Guard, has been suspended from Wisconsin’s honor guard and assigned to other duties while an investigation is ongoing,Rickert said.

Wisconsin officials also have notified the National Guard Bureau, because the other soldiers in the photograph were from other units, Rickert said. The National Guard Bureau did not immediately return a message left for comment.

Information for this article was contributed by M.L. Johnson of The Associated Press and by Meg Jones and Lydia Mulvany of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/19/2014

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