Bereaved kin push for more condolence letters

Bereaved kin push for more condolence letters

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 7:49:40 EST

WASHINGTON — Army Pfc. Brian Matthew Williams, 20, took his own life the day before he was to return to Iraq. Because it was a suicide, the president didn’t send a condolence letter to his family. Nobody has planted a tree in his honor or carved his name onto a memorial wall.

Advocates for bereaved military families say soldiers like Williams deserve better. They’re asking President Obama to send condolence letters to the next of kin of troops who die under a variety of circumstances not directly related to the war.

“Every military family pays a price when a loved one serves in the military,” Bonnie Carroll, a military widow who founded the advocacy group Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, wrote in a letter sent to Obama on Tuesday, as veterans and military officials met in Washington for a four-day suicide prevention conference.

“Their loved ones stand ready to go into harm’s way to protect our country,” Carroll wrote. “Their deaths are painful to their surviving family members, regardless of the circumstances or location of the death.”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_military_condolence_letters_011310/