Do they still have your respect if they use the photos for unseemly puposes?
It depends on the definition of 'unseemly'. There is no denying that combat photographers put themselves in the same risk as the soldiers fighting and in many times more risk because they have to expose themselves in order to take pictures. I have infinite respect for someone who will go into a war zone voluntarily to document what is happening. What is done after the fact with the images depends on the situation. A photograph is simply a photograph. How it is used is up to an editor. That is a different story.