So, Obama himself actually signs the letter to the family of a soldier who died in combat?

[SKKY]

What? The President has time for that? :sarcasm:

[CTyankee]

1. It makes me want to cry for all those loved ones of fallen soldiers during Bush's presidency.

Good for Obama. Why does this not surprise me?

[Vinca]

2. Bush didn't sign the letters? Is that true?

[AZ Criminal JD]

3. It has been reported many time Bush signed the letters

[AllentownJake]

4. Bush is despicable and an awful man

but he did sign the letters and he would meet with families.

[NYC Liberal]

8. Sure he met with the families, and did things like:

Bush to mother of soldier killed in Iraq: "Don’t go sell (presidential coin) it on eBay.”
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp /
Several mothers who have lost children at war in Iraq took part in a new talk show today on National Public Radio.

One of them, Elaine Johnson, recounted a meeting that she had with President Bush in which he gave her a presidential coin and told her and five other families: "Don’t go sell it on eBay.”

An excerpt from the interview on NPR's Tell Me More can be heard here.

The president told her that the war goes on because the U.S. has "a mission'' to complete. But Johnson says she has discovered her own mission now: Fighting to bring the troops home.

Bush to dead soldier's mom: "How do you know his life would have been good
http://www.ustourofduty.org/pages/videoDoloresPrez_high.html
By Jeff Norman
August 11, 2005
Cindy Sheehan is not the only Gold Star mom who felt disrespected after a visit with George W. Bush. Dolores Kesterson, whose son Erik was killed in Iraq in November of 2003, was among several military families who last year were invited to meet with Bush as a group. Each family was allotted ten minutes with the president, but because she is divorced from her husband, Dolores asked to speak with Bush one-on-one.

Dolores reports exclusively for U.S. Tour of Duty that she waited alone in a small partitioned area, wondering if her request would be granted, before a Bush aide suddenly announced, "The president will now see you." As the commander in chief strode briskly toward her, it seemed to Dolores that he was trying to intimidate her. "He came marching in and got right in my face...eyeball to eyeball, and said, 'I'm George Bush, the president of the United States, and I understand you have something to say to me in private.'"

Dolores tried to give Bush a sense of what type of person Erik had been. She described her son as a "comedian" whose favorite saying was, "Life is good." The president replied, "How do you know his life would have been good?"

[firedupdem]

9. That poor woman Dolores....I know how much I love my kids and

if that bastard had done that to me my reaction would have been to hit him. What an asshole. I cannot believe you still have nuts out here that love the air this jerk breathes. Disgusting!

[Beaverhausen]

6. No, Rumsfeld used to sign but only after the outcry over the robosignature

[LiberalFighter]

7. With what? A crayon?

[SKKY]

5. Most of the time, they were rubber stamped from Rumsfeld's office...

...with Bush's signature. It wasn't until Gates took over, and this became a controversy, did Bush actually start signing the letters himself.