Free Speech vs Privacy Of Names of Dead Soldiers

There seems to be a controversy between the rights of Vincent Greene's, an Austin artist, and Dan Frazier's, an Arizona T-shirt vendor artistic rights to create and sell -shirts which display the image of President Bush overlaid with the names of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and those who think it improper to use the names of these dead soldiers without the permission of the families. The t-shirts contain the slogan "He Lied, They Died".

These names, I'm sure, came from publicly available resources with no apparent restrictions. And yes, the intent was to make a public statement about Bush's handling of the war on terror. The real issue here, on the part of those who object, is the fact that these t-shirts are being sold. If the design were simply a poster or silkscreen displayed somewhere there would be no issue.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

And the real issue is the exercise of our First Amendment right to "freedom of speech", which both Greene and Frazier were clearly doing. It is sad that over 3000 soldiers have lost their lives and thousands more have been severely injured and maimed. Let's not forget that those soldiers were not only fighting for the Iraqis freedom they were also fighting for our Constitution, including the right to freedom of speech. I would like to think that every one represented on that t-shirt, if they were alive today, would tell you they were OK with it.

And by the way, I was a US Navy aviator and combat decorated Viet Nam Vet. So no arguments about what I know of combat.