Ah, freedom of speech.

She and her friend were fired. I was against the firing until I learned she was on a "working" vacation with clients from the facility. But I still hope both women sue their former employer.

The photo shows her intentionally screaming and gesturing next to a sign that asks for the visitors' silence and respect. She did neither. Nor did she respect her position as a responsible staff person for the company. The company has every right to take any action it feels to be appropriate. Hopefully she will learn from this.

Stupid is as stupid does. Considering how and why she was there I believe she left the company no choice. It was bad enough that she did it but to post it was asking for trouble.

The sad part is that these brave heros fought to give her the right to be ignorant. The firing I am unsure of all the details so will not comment on that part.

Pleased to see she was fired. Hope it sets an example. The company should sue she and her friend.

I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of expression which are guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. I also believe in responsibility. Without the brave actions and sacrifice of our military servicemen and women, individuals like Lindsey Stone & Jamie Schuh might not have the freedom. Making obscene gestures at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and taking a photo of it, is NOT in my opinion freedom of expression. It is disrespectful and obscene. The fact that they did this while they were working and supposed to be caring for disabled persons and disabilities indicates they were recklessly and willfully ignoring their charges. The fact that they uploaded the photo to Facebook indicates their stupidity and ignorance. I believe the Life organization was justified in firing them. I hope the organization and the families of the people who are patients at the facility conduct a thorough investigation to see if either Stone or Schuh are guilty of any instances of neglect or abuse. I sure wouldn't want any of my family members under their care!

Amen, Laura. As a legionaire, I couldn't agree more.

This is NOT a freedom of speech issue. The Constitution and Bill of RIghts define our form of government and our freedoms from government prosecution. It does not define our freedom to act like idiots or guarantee there will be no repercussions in our personal or professional relationships. There is no carte blanche guaranteed to say and do anything you feel with no consequences. The company can use any criteria they deem appropriate to establish or end their relationship with an employee so far as they do not violate a law that regulates such relationships (i.e. discrimination). In this case, the employee showed incredibly poor judgement, particularly while on a work-sponsored trip. The firing was totally appropriate.

She is obviously not to bright. Don't know her but I think that it was a poor attempt at humor?
May have been funny if it were done at the library.......not a national cemetery.
Consequences will follow rightfully so.

She's 30 years old and still acting like a 10 year old!!! Perhaps one visit to Walter Reed Hospital in DC will wake this woman up and realize how disrespectful her act was and why so many are appalled by her actions.

She was on a business trip representing her employer. Who was watching the people these two were in charge of while she was pulling this idiotic prank? Her employer had every right to fire her.

Steve Levy stole my thunder. The Constitution and Bill of Rights say that CONGRESS shall make no law that inhibits freedom of speech. Sure, you can say whatever you want, and act like a jackass, and that's not illegal, but Steve and I (and most everyone else) as private citizens might not care for your antics. We don't have to like your speech. We are perfectly within OUR rights to ask you to knock it off, shun you, and choose not to associate with you, or employ you. Mark Cain must've flunked civics.

Agreed, Ed- and she was on a work-related trip. She should have lost her job for that reason only. Although the original photo was taken as mocking the SIGN and not Arlington itself, it is garnering reaction as if she was making a direct and clear attack on the veterans of this nation, which was never the case. What has been done via social media with the photo is FAR worse than anything she did.

I spent quite a bit of time discussing this with TWO veterans who INSISTED they support physically harming her, imprisoning her, having her deported, and a host of other horrific statements. Understand at this point she fears for her life. For making a joke, as stupid as the joke was. This is from veterans.. and it's shameful.

What has erupted from what was a bad joke is nothing short of a lynch mob and deserves no more respect than one. This went from a case of a girl who needed to be taught a lesson to open season for bullies. What lesson do you suppose she learned from this type of conduct? Certainly not the one she should have.

Their right to Freedom of Speech is absolutely protected by the First Amendment, however, nowhere in the Amendment is any language advocating job security. She's not being locked up for her picture, therefor, the Amendment worked as intended. There are always consequences.

A 30 year woman (or woman/child), who posted a picture of herself posing with an obscene gesture at the sign of the Unknown Soldier, is about as dumb as the person that took the picture. I say, sentence them to 1,000 hours of working at a Vet's Hospital, and then they'll see what these men have done for our UNITED STATE OF AMERICA. The two of them must be about the dumbest people in the state.
C.Landry

GM, I pointed those two out of HUNDREDS of posts calling for many types of violence and retribution... But I did so because these were veterans, people who know better. You have totally missed my point. My point is that these threats, calls, and emails continue... Even though she has publicly and vehemently apologized and attempted to explain. I am pointing out that some people's actions in the name of 'patriotism' are anything but... and that I am appalled by this type of shameful behavior in the name of false bravado.Nutbags are making this an assault on our soldiers and their sacrifice... which was clearly never the intent of the girl, who needs a civics lesson on WHY it shouldn't be done- not threats for physical violence or incarceration. The men actually IN Arlington fought for her right to say awful things without fear of violence or imprisonment, to call for such things in their names is shameful, that's all... Especially AFTER she has repeatedly and publicly apologized for what was a bad joke gone wrong.

Chris got it right. On their own time they can say and do as they please. However, when you are on the companies "dime" you are representing them. So they have the right to sack you. Should be a lesson for all.

Freedom of speech is imperative.
Unless the person is saying something you disagree with.
Then the person should be fired from his or her position, whatever it may be.
After all, those she was disrespecting died to make sure we could decide what is and is not appropriate to say.

Having seen the picture, I must say I just don't get it. The young woman's actions seem dumb, in more ways than one. The subsequent dismissal seems unsurprising, given the particular circumstances (I read elsewhere that the woman was on a "working vacation"; what on earth is that?); merited or not, it's hardly major news. The threats of violence and punishment described, very credibly, by Paul (such a lot of threatening lately...) seem absurd and uncivilized. In the end, I think it's best just to keep in mind that no gesture, however crude or idiotic or misguided, changes or in ANY WAY diminishes the sacrifice which is the essential meaning of the Tomb. Some things simply cannot be desecrated. Arlington is one of those things.

These two were working when accompanying the developmentally challenged clients to DC. They are responsbile for teaching skills and behavior modeling to the clients. So it is clear that they did not follow through with their job criteria thus the termination of their employment was the right thing to do given their inappropriate behaviors.. Can you imagine a busload of the clients giving the finger to other peoplein public as they "learned that behavior from the staff person"? Secondly the staff's behavior was one of disrespect to the veterans who fought so that we can have our freedom. Then to post this on Facebook which is very public, how dumb could they be ? I would not want them working with my family member should one be "developmentally challenged".

If they were Muslim women, I bet this would not have even made the news. Everyone would have been too scared of somehow not being "PC" enough.

oh by th way miss funny my sons in the airforce,he finished in the top 1 % of the airforoce..he is a combat controller ,,which means he provides air support,,for the ground tropps.on the ground,, he has been deployed to afganastan 3 times ,,and somila once.. and as a parent its my woarst fear,, is that he should return in a box with a flag over it,,, now think of all the graves you passd in arlinton,,and all the parents,,,brothers sisters mother,, sons and duaghtrs that have weeped, over the loss of all those brave soliders,, and in the most hollow place in arlinton you pull that disrspectfull act wow...... just so you know,,,my fredom says i am one pissed off dad,,for what you did.,i have been all over the u.s.and seen all kinds of beauty...the tomb of the unknow is still the most imprssive thing i have ever seen in my life...it has the grand canyon beat by 10.000 times,,I only wish someday you can grasp, the dedication of the honor guards,,guarding the falln

WOW so your a english major good for you

you probally think what she did was alright to, its not about my bad english.at least I know how to give respect to ,the soliders that dserve it.. Chris L

Nobody feels the irony more than I do, but I am in total agreement with Chris L on this one. Both with regard to the imbecility of the original action (a three-part perfect storm of imprudence: the gesture, the picture, the publication on Facebook...) and the unsurprising followup which should presumably be the end of the situation, and, now, with Chris L's perfectly reasonable right to expect a modicum of respect for the English language when posting in that language on this site. I do not say that Brian's comment was not moving--it was, and I agree with it in spirit, though one is left to wonder if one has understood it in its entirety--but Chris L is correct in identifying that this lack of command of the tools with which we communicate can be directly tied to the problem of the woman who communicated so disrespectfully at Arlington Cemetery. There are standards for the forms we use to communicate, and keeping them up is not only polite, it also helps us to understand each other. Brian has no problem assuming he is in a position to judge this woman's gesture (though I have yet to read any serious explanation of what she was doing, beyond being silly and irreverent--and who can say she doesn't have her reasons for being so?). A better reaction to Chris L's comment might have been a bit of modesty. But then, I WAS an English major; as prone to make mistakes as anybody else, but more than willing to take a lesson.

I don't think this is a 1st Amendment issue because the protection of the 1st Amendment is "abridgement" not "infringement". I suspect since there was a sign that requested "silence and respect" an officer could have infringed on the freedom of speech of these two women and taken steps to enforce a standard of decorum. Also, what Stone and Schuh did probably did not meet the "peaceable to assemble" part of the 1st Amendment so they could have been removed also.

The firing is probably justified as they represented their employer and this type of behavior would not have been tolerated in the work place without some kind of action and the fact that they did this at a National Cemetery and were proud of it probably warrants strong action. Of course they can apply for their old jobs, but it seems that there might be a risk of inappropriate behavior from these two. I hope they learned their lesson and are not unemployed for too long.