A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday's edition of The Seattle Times.
Silicio was let go yesterday for violating U.S. government and company regulations, said William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft, the contractor that employed Silicio at Kuwait International Airport.
Maytag also fired David Landry, a co-worker who recently wed Silicio.
Silicio said she never sought to put herself in the public spotlight. Instead, she said, she hoped the publication of the photo would help families of fallen soldiers understand the care and devotion that civilians and military crews dedicate to the task of returning the soldiers home.
UPDATE: Fortunately, some enterprising individual filed a FOIA for photos of coffins coming home and has posted all of them here (mirror here)
Every job has rules. Civilians working in war zones probably have more than most. And taking pictures of things you're not supposed to take pictures of and allowing them to be published is probably high on the list.
But here we have a situation where this woman was the first one to give Americans a view of something they should have seen a year ago. And for that she loses her job.
Whatever the rules say, that fact that she lost her job over this is WRONG!
Kevin Drum says the Bush administration's political judgment is obvious: pictures of dead soldiers on the front pages of newspapers will turn people against the war. On the other hand, hiding the pictures just makes it look like the administration is ashamed of its war.
A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday's edition of The Seattle Times. 
