thedrifter
03-18-07, 03:02 PM
Almost daily, Gates writes families of fallen
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 18, 2007 14:25:34 EDT
WASHINGTON — Nearly every evening, Defense Secretary Robert Gates takes up a sad task: adding a few sentences to letters to the families of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.
“I guess it’s because I feel a personal responsibility for each one of these men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Gates said Sunday when asked about the practice on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
“And it’s just — it is a small gesture to the families that I personally am involved and that I personally very much care and have great sorrow over the sacrifice that their son or daughter or husband or wife has made,” he said.
His predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, began signing condolence letters after he was criticized by Democratic and Republican members of Congress in 2004 for using a signature machine. Rumsfeld cited “the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members” in explaining why he had not been personally signing the letters.
Gates said his letters are typed, “but I always add three or four lines in — of handwritten personal feelings at the end.”
More than 3,200 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition invaded four years ago. Of those deaths, more than 250 have occurred since Gates was sworn in on Dec. 18.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 18, 2007 14:25:34 EDT
WASHINGTON — Nearly every evening, Defense Secretary Robert Gates takes up a sad task: adding a few sentences to letters to the families of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.
“I guess it’s because I feel a personal responsibility for each one of these men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Gates said Sunday when asked about the practice on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
“And it’s just — it is a small gesture to the families that I personally am involved and that I personally very much care and have great sorrow over the sacrifice that their son or daughter or husband or wife has made,” he said.
His predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, began signing condolence letters after he was criticized by Democratic and Republican members of Congress in 2004 for using a signature machine. Rumsfeld cited “the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members” in explaining why he had not been personally signing the letters.
Gates said his letters are typed, “but I always add three or four lines in — of handwritten personal feelings at the end.”
More than 3,200 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition invaded four years ago. Of those deaths, more than 250 have occurred since Gates was sworn in on Dec. 18.
Ellie