A powerful photo and an equally powerful article. Viet Nam is a bit over thirty years in the past, but these kind of pictures bring back painful memories.

Tami Was fired!

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?c=1&slug=coffin22m&date=20040422&query=tami

Local News: Thursday, April 22, 2004
Woman loses her job over coffins photo

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Images of war dead a sensitive subject

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.

"I feel like I was hit in the chest with a steel bar and got my wind knocked out. I have to admit I liked my job, and I liked what I did," Silicio said.

Her photograph, taken earlier this month, shows more than 20 flag-draped coffins in a cargo plane about to depart from Kuwait. Since 1991, the Pentagon has banned the media from taking pictures of caskets being returned to the United States.

That policy has been a lightning rod for debate, and Silicio's photograph was quickly posted on numerous Internet sites and became the subject of many Web conversations. Times Executive Editor Michael R. Fancher yesterday appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" news show with U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., who supported the Pentagon policy prohibiting such pictures.

As a result of the broader coverage, The Times received numerous e-mails and phone calls from across the country — most of which supported the newspaper's decision.

Pentagon officials yesterday said the government's policy defers to the sensitivities of bereaved families. "We've made sure that all of the installations who are involved with the transfer of remains were aware that we do not allow any media coverage of any of the stops until (the casket) reaches its final destination," said Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

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.

"It wasn't my intent to lose my job or become famous or anything," Silicio said.

The Times received Silicio's photograph from a stateside friend, Amy Katz, who had previously worked with Silicio for a different contractor in Kosovo. Silicio then gave The Times permission to publish it, without compensation. It was paired with an article about her work in Kuwait.

Silicio, 50, is from Edmonds and previously worked as an events decorator in the Seattle area and as a truck driver in Kosovo. Before the war started, she went to work for Maytag, which contracts with the Air Mobility Command to provide air-terminal and ground-handling services in Kuwait.

In Kuwait, Silicio pulled 12-hour night shifts alongside military workers to help in the huge effort to resupply U.S. troops. These workers also helped transport the remains of soldiers back to the United States.

Her job put her in contact with soldiers who sometimes accompanied the coffins to the airport. Having lost one of her own sons to a brain tumor, Silicio said, she tried to offer support to those grieving over a lost comrade.

"It kind of helps me to know what these mothers are going through, and I try to watch over their children as they head home," she said in an earlier interview.

Since Sunday, Silicio has hunkered down in Kuwait as her employer and the military decided her fate.

Maytag's Silva said the decision to terminate Silicio's and Landry's employment was made by the company. But he said the U.S. military had identified "very specific concerns" about their actions. Silva declined to detail those concerns.

"They were good workers, and we were sorry to lose them," Silva said. "They did a good job out in Kuwait and it was an important job that they did."

Landry, in an e-mail to The Times, said he was proud of his wife, and that they would soon return home to the States.

Thanks for the tip, Robert!

I am soldier and respect the privacy of the family members who grieve the lost of their loved ones. But firing this individual over the picture is not the idealism and freedom we fight for and some who have died for. Shame on Maytag. They are the big losers in my book.

I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED TAMI AND I.
WE ARE BOTH STILL LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOMEDAY FIND WILL SOMETHING. I WANT TO ASK ALL OF YOU IF YOU SEE ANYTHING NEW ABOUT US IN YOUR PAPERS PLEASE SEND US OR ME E-MAIL AND WHERE TO FIND IT.
I AM VERY UPSET WITH MAYTAG FOR NOT HAVING THE GUTS TO STAND UP FOR US. TAMI SHOT THE PHOTO AND SENT IT IN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR A KEEP SAKE IT GONE FURTHER AND WE ENDED UP LOOSING OUR JOBS FOR IT. BUSH SHOULD BE ASHAME OF HIMSELF FOR THIS. STILL SEEING DADDY FOR ADVICE?
ALL I CAN SEE IS HE WILL LOOSE THIS CHANCE FOR PRESIDENCY THIS TIME AROUND BECAUSE ALL OF HIS SCREW UPS HIS ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN DOING THIS YEAR. I SUPPORTED HIM UNTIL I GOT CANNED FOR SOMETHING MY WIFE DID ON HER OWN. I WISHED I HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORTH BEING FIRED OVER BUT I AM SADLY TO SAY I DIDN'T.
PASS ON TO ANYONE OF YOUR FRIENDS AND SEND A SUPPORT LETTER TO ME SO I MAY COLLECT AND SUBMIT TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION OF YOUR COMMENTS AND CONCERNS OVER THE PHOTO AND ILLEGAL FIRING OF US.
DAVE LANDRY
TAMI'S HUSBAND