Nicole Brodeur / Times staff columnist
Firing holds a message about war

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Kuwait is that much further away now that Tami Silicio is out of a job.

Further from the heart. And far removed from the hometown-girl intentions that moved Silicio to photograph a cargo plane filled with flag-draped coffins at Kuwait International Airport.

The coffins, containing the bodies of soldiers killed in Iraq, were bound for Germany, and then headed home to the United States.

Silicio, a Seattle native working as a contract employee in Kuwait, took the photograph earlier this month and sent it to a friend here, wanting to show how well the fallen are cared for by the military.

How they are escorted by uniformed guards, saluted and prayed over.

How they are never alone.

The friend sent the photo to The Seattle Times and, with Silicio's permission, it was published on the front page Sunday. She received no money for it.

What followed was a surge of appreciation from people who feel shut out of the back rooms of this war.

Too bad Silicio's bosses didn't feel the same.

She and her co-worker-husband, David Landry, were fired yesterday. They worked under an "at will" clause, giving the contractor that right.
 
But what of Silicio's right to pay homage to the fallen and those who shepherd them home?

And what of our right to see how it is done?

The din of controversy could well drown out the eloquence with which that one photo spoke.

Many readers felt grateful for the chance to see what Silicio intended — the honor given to those who died.

Others saw the photo as evidence we should get out of this war. So many coffins, so few years on the bodies within. There were 94 service members listed as killed by hostile fire in April — as of last Sunday, anyway.

"Thanks to The Times for printing the picture," one reader wrote. "I believe there are a total of 21 caskets; 21 too many."

Said another reader: "I can only hope that the photo opened eyes that are not opened yet."

It did that, and more. Silicio's firing draws further attention to how the war is being portrayed to folks back home.

What was it, exactly, we were not supposed to see? And why fire someone who simply wanted to show what a fine place she worked? It's like dismissing a dishwasher for bringing food home from the restaurant so his friends could taste how good it is.

Silicio was proud. She said her work had "purpose and cause." She was relieved to see the saddest duty of war handled with grace and dignity.

But now she is headed home, framed in controversy.

And the message in that image?

That the government would prefer that this ever-growing file of war remains classified.

There's a part of me that wonders if Silicio would like to take it all back. Keep the photo to herself, a poignant, painful snapshot of the cost of war. A keepsake. A lesson to be handed down.

I'm sorry she's paid for that lesson. But I'm grateful for this touchstone of our times.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

God bless them, every one.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company