Posted on 12/17/2004 5:12:06 PM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will begin personally signing condolence letters sent to families of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, after receiving criticism over his use of mechanical signatures.
In a statement provided to Stars and Stripes on Thursday, Rumsfeld tacitly admitted that in the past he has not personally signed the letters, but said he was responsible for writing and approving each of the 1,000-plus messages sent to the fallen soldiers’ families.
“I have directed that in the future I sign each letter,” he said in the statement.
“I am deeply grateful for the many letters I have received from the families of those who have been killed in the service of our country, and I recognize and honor their personal loss.”
In a separate statement, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said, “In the interest of ensuring timely contact with grieving family members, he has not individually signed each letter.”
Department of Defense officials for the past few weeks had said only that the content of the letters was private.
But several families of troops killed overseas said they were sure the notes they received had not been signed by hand, and said they were angry that Rumsfeld was not paying attention to their loss.
“To me it’s an insult, not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in Iraq,” Army Spc. Ivan Medina told Stripes.
“This doesn’t show our families the respect they deserve,” said Medina, a New York resident whose twin brother, Irving, was killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq this summer.
Illinois resident Bette Sullivan, whose son John was killed in November 2003 while working as an Army mechanic in Iraq, was incensed when she, her son’s wife and her grandchildren received the exact same condolence letter with the apparently stamped signature.
“If each family receives two copies, how many signatures does that amount to?” she asked in an e-mail response to Stripes. “I can understand the use of stamped signatures for his brothers’ mementos, but for those of his wife and children and mother? No, no, no.”
Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, an author and frequent critic of the Department of Defense, publicly criticized Rumsfeld in a syndicated column earlier this month for not reviewing each KIA letter personally.
He called the fake signatures “like having it signed by a monkey.”
“Using those machines is pretty common, but it shouldn’t be in cases of those who have died in action,” he said. “How can [DOD officials] feel the emotional impact of that loss if they’re not even looking at the letters?”
Hackworth said he objected to using the stamped signatures for promotion and commendation letters as well, but said not personally handling the condolence letters is a much more serious offense.
Family members had expressed similar concerns to Stripes about President Bush’s signature on his condolence letters, but Allen Abney, spokesman for the president, said that Bush does personally sign the letters sent from the White House.
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Secretary Rumsfeld's statement
Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on condolences to servicemembers and their loved ones, as provided to Stars and Stripes:
“It is a solemn privilege of the many of us in the Department to meet with U.S. forces and families who have experienced injury or death in the defense of our country.
“During visits with wounded forces and their families at Walter Reed Army Hospital or at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, I have drawn inspiration from the dignity and resolve of these wonderful young Americans and their loved ones.
“Over the past years, my wife, Joyce, and I have met with several hundred wounded troops and their families during visits to intensive care units, therapy facilities, and their rooms in military hospitals in the United States and abroad.
“During visits to military installations, I have met with still others during their visits to the Pentagon.
“Joyce and I also have met together and individually with spouses and children of those killed in action.
“At the earliest moment in the global war on terror, I determined that it is important that military families who have lost loved ones in hostile actions receive a letter from me directly.
“I wrote and approved the now more than 1000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action. While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter.
“I am deeply grateful for the many letters I have received from the families of those who have been killed in the service of our country, and I recognize and honor their personal loss.”
Uninformed because I don't know a radio personality? Are you kidding me? Radio "personality" is one step above circus clown in the entertainment ladder.
Stars and Stripes is not credible???? So you only accept info from the supporters of the admin? Is there an American version of Pravda you would feel comfortable with? Stars and Stripes is not credible????
What is she a doctor of? I never heard of her. I love radio people but its a medium that is supported by herbal hair loss vitamins and male enhancement pills and beer ads at 9 am.
Signing a few letters every day could be done in a couple of minutes - he could do it at his stand-up desk while having his morning coffee.
"In the military, we use whatever means are available to perform the required task at minimum cost to life, blood, and treasure. Period."
Blood and treasure expended too much on rounding up a toothless old dog while the real enemies are being pursued with less than the minimum required.
Good lord! There was a time when the best a family could hope for was a telegram from the War (later Defense) Dept. It is entirely possible to be deeply supportive of and sympathetic to the families of our troops (and those who lost loved ones on 9/11, and the shuttle, and the hurricanes, etc., etc., etc.), and yet to also be darned sick and tired of just how whiny our society has become.
“I have directed that in the future I sign each letter,” he said in the statement.
But why would he agree to suddenly sign letters if - as some here have suggested - there was nothing wrong with him NOT doing it?
Mission NOT Accomplished? C'mon...we won 18 months ago. Perhaps the insurgency could have been nipped in the bud if, in the glow of victory, lawlessness was not allowed to make the US soldiers on the ground look weak and indecisive. Where are we now compared to 18 months ago? Are we any happier in Iraq? The right way to use American power is not to let it fly out of your hands like soap in the bath.
What's really going on with a number of Republicans on the Hill is that they are pushing to see just how far they can go with (and get from) the President this term. Some of them are also test-driving possible presidential runs themselves in '08. Remember four years ago when Jeffords and some of the other liberal Republicans pulled similar crap. In the end, Jeffords wound up cutting his own political throat.
Signing 1,300 letters over 18 months is a little different than 200-300 per day during WWII.
Hear hear, and in a worse state than when we began and after such tremendous expense. Can anyone be reading the headlines from Iraq and not get the sense that this is slipping ever further into a nightmare of our own design and choosing? That said, I'd like to see more interviews with troops on the ground with regard to Rumsfield's job performance. If they're happy, then I guess we should be too.
"You are not an occupying power until you have the formal surrender from the other side. Until then you are merely an invader. That is international law you consumate stupid ass."
American was / is [was there a formal surrender?] an invader? Not a liberator? I don't think you are strengthening your position by appealing to international law.
Doubia's lining up Wolfowitz for the top job. If you thought the entrenched bureaucracy hates Rumsfeld, wait till the Wolf comes in. I personally would like to see Richard Pearl in the top job.
I'm sorry, but that is such a lame response. These letters are on behalf of folks who will never have a day job again.
It is the least Rumsfeld could do. He's a great guy and is doing a great job, but he's not perfect. He blew it, big time, on this one.
CC
People used to get a telegram to tell them their loved one had been killed in action. If I'm killed over there, I don't want Rummy wasting time signing a letter to my wife when he doesn't even know me. This is a bogus issue designed to chip away at the SOD by people who despise him. Since when was the Sec of Def required to do this? Did they do it during the Clinton years, say, when Aspen screwed up Somalia? How about the Civil War? When we used to lose thousands in a single battle or when we lost thousands when a ship was sunk we were more serious. Kill the enemy was our solution. Now it's bog down the Sec of Def in the proper ettiquette of the RIP card.
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