p kuziel

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Military Contractor Fires Woman For Troops' Coffin Photo

 

POSTED: 12:34 p.m. EDT April 22, 2004

 

SEATTLE -- A cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins

bearing the remains of U.S. soldiers was published on a newspaper's

front page was fired by the military contractor that employed her.

 

Tami Silicio, 50, was fired Wednesday by Maytag Aircraft Corp. after

military officials raised "very specific concerns" related to the

photograph, said William L. Silva, Maytag president. The photo was

taken in Kuwait.

Silva declined to identify the Pentagon's concerns but said Silicio

violated company and federal government rules. He declined to comment

further.

 

Silicio said she hoped the photo of the 20 flag-draped coffins

awaiting transport from Kuwait to the United States would show the

relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq that civilian and military crews

return the remains of their loved ones with care and devotion.

 

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

Silicio said.

 

Silicio's husband and co-worker, David Landry, was also fired, but

the company gave no reason for his dismissal.

 

Under a policy adopted in 1991, the Pentagon bars news organizations

from photographing caskets being returned to the United States,

saying publication of such photos would be insensitive to bereaved

families. Critics say the public is being denied information by not

being able to see photos of coffins coming back from Iraq.

 

Silicio took the photograph in a cargo plane about to depart from

Kuwait International Airport earlier this month. She sent the photo

to a stateside friend who provided it to The Seattle Times, which

then obtained permission from Silicio to publish it without

compensation.

 

The photo appeared in the center of the newspaper's front page in its

Sunday's editions, along with an article on the war in Iraq and a

feature on Silicio's job in Kuwait. It was then posted on Web sites

and has been widely discussed on the Internet.

 

The Times reported Thursday that its decision to print the photograph

was supported in most of the e-mails and telephone calls it has

received.

 

Executive Editor Michael R. Fancher wrote about the decision to print

the photograph in his weekly column in Sunday's editions and he

appeared Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" with U.S. Rep.

Mike Castle, R-Del., who supports the Pentagon ban. Delaware is home

to the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, where all remains

first arrive in the United States from overseas.

 

"Some will see the picture as an anti-war statement because the image

is reminiscent of photos from the Vietnam era" of caskets with

casualties arriving in the United States, Fancher wrote, "but that

isn't Silicio's or The Times' motivation."

This is the problem I find myself in. Every year I pack up the wife and kids to go camping in the White mountains of NH. I go to shoot the landscape and flowers, but the same argument always takes place. The wife wants prints to show her/our friends and I like slides for image superiority. It is hard to show the pictures to your friends and family when their all on slide. So maybe this year will be different. So I am going to order about 12 rolls of the 400HD in a few weeks and use it for the trip. Hopefully this will be a good comprimise. I rarely enlarge my images beyond 11X14.

You will love Connecticut! I live in the New Haven CT area. Anywhere along the shore has fantastic photo opertunities. Try Mystic Seaport in Mystic Connecticut or just drive along RT 1. Also try Hammanasset State park in Madison CT. In Branford CT there are the Thimble Islands. New London is also home to Electric Boat (Submarines), you can sometimes get photo's of them leaving the sub base in Groton CT. Gee there is really alot to photograph now that I think of it. Have you tried your public library under Connecticut? There is a book about Connecticut, sort of a coffee table type book but shows you some fantastic area's all over the state.

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Good Luck.<BR>

Paul Kuziel

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New Haven CT

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<I>Please keep in mind that we are talking about <B>nature photography</B> here.</I>