U.S. Will Now Send Condolence Letters To Families Of Soldiers Who Commit Suicide

In an effort to diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness in the armed services, President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the U.S. military will now send condolence letters to the families of American troops who commit suicide while serving overseas.

“This decision was made after a difficult and exhaustive review of the former policy, and I did not make it lightly,” Obama said in a statement. “They didn’t die because they were weak.  And the fact that they didn’t get the help they needed must change.”

The President cast the decision, which is a reversal of current policy, as his administration’s latest effort to improve mental health resources for U.S. troops.