A photograph of Army National Guard soldiers posing in front of an empty, flag-covered casket surfaced on Instagram earlier this week. Now that the solider from Wisconsin who took the picture has been identified, she’s been suspended.

National Guard Members Pose In Front Of Casket

“We put the FUN in funeral – your fearless honor guard from various states…,” the Instagram caption read, reported ABC News. In the picture, 14 National Guard soldiers, dressed in fatigues, ham it up for the camera in various poses. One soldier salutes, another gives a fellow solider bunny ears, who’s posing like Rodin’s “The Thinker.” There’s also some hugging.

The controversial photograph, which has been damned for being insensitive to fallen soldiers, was taken by Specialist Terry Harrison. Harrison, a member of a Madison, Wis., honor guard unit took the snap at a National Guard training facility in North Little Rock, Ark. She has now been indefinitely suspended.

WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

Terry Harrison Posts Selfie With Disrespectful Caption

Harrison also posted a selfie to Instagram that had a caption almost as controversial as the group picture. “it’s so damn cold out.. WHY have a funeral outside!?” she wrote. “Somebody’s getting a jacked up flag…”

“A military funeral is the final show of respect for our veterans and their families, and we take that solemn duty very seriously,” said the Wisconsin National Guard’s director of public affairs, Maj. Paul Rickert. “The very name 'military funeral honors' underscores the importance we ascribe — both as the military and society at large — to such solemn occasions. These photos and comments do not appear to align with those values.”

“I was appalled by the offensive photos and comments that appeared on this Soldier’s social media site regarding her duties as a funeral honor guard member,” added Maj. Gen. Donald P. Dunbar, the Wisconsin adjutant general who has ordered an investigation into the incident.

– Chelsea Regan

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