[WayneS]

These were jokes. No one’s remains were desecrated or mistreated so no one has a reason to be offended.

It must be stressful and depressing to be around so much death and sadness every day.

I think the phrase “gallows humor” fits this situation.

[Pan_Yan]

I spent nine years on subs. I get gallows humor. And honestly I don’t really see any real damage in posing around an empty casket while at an honor guard training class (I wouldn’t have had the flag on it though).

In the old days a picture like this would be in someone’s scrapbook. Now it’s splashed across the world in seconds and there are way too many people eager to take a stab at every slight regarding our military.

[Hulka]

Perhaps. . .but dumb to post publicly.

[Jeff Head]

There are some things you do not “joke,” about.

If they are not mature enough to recognize this, they should never be a part of any honor guard.

Plain and simple. In this case, no excuses needed or accepted.

[Iscool]

These were jokes. No one’s remains were desecrated or mistreated so no one has a reason to be offended.

I agree...The casket was empty...They were mucking it up for an apparent photo shoot in front of someone's cell phone...Probably waiting for a photographer to show up...