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Woman fired over US coffins { April 23 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082616264208.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082616264208.html Woman fired over US coffins By Caroline Overington New York Correspondent New York April 23, 2004 Last weekend, a newspaper in Seattle, Washington, published a rare photograph of coffins containing the bodies of American soldiers killed in the war in Iraq. The coffins, each draped with an American flag, had been loaded into the back of a cargo plane for their final journey to the United States.The image is a rarity because the US military generally bans photographs of soldiers' coffins. Yesterday, the woman who took the photo, Tami Silicio, was sacked from her job for taking it. Ms Silicio, 50, worked for Maytag Aircraft Corporation, which has a contract to handle cargo for the US Government at Kuwait's international airport. In the course of her job, she would often see soldiers' coffins in the back of aircraft, on their way from Iraq to burial in the US. Earlier this month - one of the deadliest for coalition soldiers - Ms Silicio decided to photograph the coffins. She then asked a friend, Amy Katz, to forward the image to her local newspaper, The Seattle Times. "Tami wanted to share the image with the American people," Ms Katz told The Age yesterday. The editor of The Seattle Times, Mike Fancher, said he decided to publish the photograph on the front page because it was "undeniably newsworthy". The paper's managing editor, David Boardman, told Editor and Publisher this week that "we weren't attempting to convey any sort of political message". Referring to the military ban on photographs of coffins, he said: "The Administration cannot tell us what we can and cannot publish." Ms Katz said that after the picture was published Ms Silicio was "called into her supervisor's office and severely reprimanded. She explained why she did it, but they sacked her and her husband (David Landry) too." She said Ms Silicio "really wanted mothers of the soldiers to know how the coffins were handled". In an interview with The Seattle Times, Ms Sicilio said the coffins were prayed over and saluted before being shipped. After her sacking, Ms Silicio was quoted as saying: "I feel like I was hit in the chest with a steel bar... I have to admit I liked my job and liked what I did."

American releases 500 detainees including journalists { January 17 2006 } Casket photos released after mixup in military Clinton rule bans coffin media coverage { October 21 2003 } Cnn chief quits after journalists killed in iraq remark { February 11 2005 } Five journalists still detained in iraq { April 5 2005 } Iraqi cbs cameraman detained as threat to coalition { April 8 2005 } Italian says US deliberately targeted her Journalist kills with cluster bomblet Journalists dead iraq war { August 17 2003 } Pentagon keeps dead out of sight Pentagon limits funeral coverage { November 14 2003 } Pentagon releases some photos of troops coffins { April 28 2005 } Reuters cameraman killed for filming graves Reuters journalist detained after helicopter shot down { January 3 2004 } Reuters reporting obstructed by troops Soldier funeral [jpg] Spanish judge issues warrant for soldiers who killed journalists { April 8 2003 } Troops fire on freed journalist US admits killing arab journalists in iraq { March 29 2004 } US attack on italians was deliberate Us caskets get quiet burial { October 27 2003 } Us curbs press { June 19 2003 } Us forces detained two journalists { August 30 2003 } Woman fired over US coffins { April 23 2004 } Files Listed: 24

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