Nobody likes the flippant attitude, that's why you're getting downvoted. As for questioning the quality of the journalism, they requested the information from

Nobody likes the flippant attitude, that's why you're getting downvoted. As for questioning the quality of the journalism, they requested the information from the military and the military chose not to respond. What more do you expect out of them? If they wanted to speculate in an op-ed, they'd probably write something to the effect that it's very unlikely that the military (or government in general) can restrict citizens from displaying whatever they want off-duty. This is 1st amendment but comes with a strong caveat that it's as long as there's no association with the US military. Basically nothing to suggest the military endorses their speech/beliefs or that the message they are transmitting comes from the military in any way.