Obama Reverses Policy On Condolence Letters For Military Suicides

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The Obama administration has put an end to the White House policy of not sending condolence letters to the families of service members who commit suicide. Several weeks ago, a group of senators asked President Obama to change the “insensitive” practice.

A White House official said in a statement:

“The president feels strongly that we need to destigmatize the mental health costs of war to prevent these tragic deaths, and changing this policy is part of that process … Unfortunately, perpetuating a policy that denies condolence letters to families of service members who die by suicide only serves to reinforce this stigma by overshadowing the contributions of an individual’s life with the unfortunate nature of his or her death. It is simply unacceptable for the United States to be sending the message to these families that somehow their loved ones’ sacrifices are less important.”

More than 1,100 service members took their own lives between 2005 and 2009, which averages to about one suicide every 36 hours.

Image via JustASC/Shutterstock.

 
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