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Wisconsin Guard member suspended from funeral detail over Instagram pics

Posted at 6:54 AM, Feb 19, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-19 06:57:52-05

(CNN) -- In one image, soldiers -- including one from the Wisconsin Army National Guard -- pose around a flag-draped casket.

The caption reads: "We put the FUN in funeral -- your fearless honor guard from various states."

In another, a soldier poses alone in a car.

That caption reads: "It's so damn cold out ... WHY have a funeral outside!? Somebody's getting a jacked up flag."

Both photographs sparked outrage after they were posted on an Instagram account belonging to Spc. Terry Harrison -- a member of the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment based in Madison, Wisconsin.

She has been suspended indefinitely from the funeral honors detail, pending an investigation.

Harrison remains working full time, performing other duties, said Maj. Paul Rickert, spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard.

"A military funeral is the final show of respect for our veterans and their families, and we take that solemn duty very seriously," Rickert said.

"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."

Harrison is the only member of the Wisconsin National Guard in the photos, the spokesman added.

The other people are members of other military units, but Rickert didn't know to which branches or units they might belong. As a result, he didn't know whether there were other investigations involving those members.

"We expect all of our Soldiers and Airmen to live by a core set of values, in word and deed," said Maj. Gen. Donald P. Dunbar, Wisconsin's adjutant general. "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."

The-CNN-Wire
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