Former veteran's photo: Patriotic or desecrating?

Is this an image of patriotism or disrespect for the American flag? A photographer and Navy veteran found herself the victim of online bullying after a picture she posted on Facebook outraged online users.

Vanessa Hicks, based in Virginia Beach, Va., took a photo of a military father holding his newborn son in an American flag and posted it on the social networking site on March 8.

Hicks wrote in a Facebook post that while she loves the image and "the family loves the shot," some found the photo disrespectful.

Hicks wrote that users in the Facebook group, "You Call Yourself a Photographer," began posting the image and writing that she should be "ashamed" of herself. Some even questioned whether the picture was against the U.S. flag code, a set of guidelines for treatment of the American flag.

Hicks, who is also the wife of an active-duty Navy serviceman, says following the backlash she, " could have easily deleted the picture off of my business page and ended it with that. I almost did. Then I thought, WHY?"

Along with messages criticizing the picture, Hicks said that she has received a lot of support from service men and women.

"I'm not doing this for any other reason except for every service member, including this one in this photo, who has wrapped in this flag that so many wanted to defend, the main thing he would fight for, his family," Hicks wrote in a Facebook post on March 10.

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