President Obama to Change Policy and Also Write Condolence Letters to Families of Service Members in War Zones Who Commit Suicide

President Obama this week decided to change the longstanding policy that until now excluded families of U.S. service members who killed themselves in war zones from receiving presidential condolence letters, White House officials told ABC News.

The policy –- decades old, and likely rooted in military perceptions that suicide is dishonorable -- has been under review by the president’s National Security Staff since December 2009.

Since then, a senior White House official said, the National Security Staffer engaged in an exhaustive review process, and the president decided to make the change, prompted by "the conversations we had with experts about de-stigmatizing suicide, (and) the conversations we had with military families.”

Letters to families of service members who die in war zones will be from the president, and will differ depending on the type of death, as in a combat death versus an accidental death.

“The President feels strongly that we need to de-stigmatize the mental health costs of war to prevent these tragic deaths, and changing this policy is part of that process,” a senior White House official said.

This is a very important step. When my DH was in Desert Storm, one of his pals got a video tape from his wife, he quite happily stuck it in the machine and watched it. It was a tape of his wife having sex with his best friend with a nice "f**k" you at the end by the wife. The guy was completely and utterly devastated, and the next morning put a bullet through his brain. There are far more casualties in war caused by many other reasons than combat.

This is a very important step. When my DH was in Desert Storm, one of his pals got a video tape from his wife, he quite happily stuck it in the machine and watched it. It was a tape of his wife having sex with his best friend with a nice "f**k" you at the end by the wife. The guy was completely and utterly devastated, and the next morning put a bullet through his brain. There are far more casualties in war caused by many other reasons than combat.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed an executive order Friday directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand mental health services and suicide prevention efforts.

The president made the announcement in a speech to troops at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he was scheduled to hold a roundtable with soldiers and their families.

Much of what’s outlined in the executive order are initiatives that were previously announced earlier this summer by the VA.

Obama is instructing the VA to ensure that any veteran with suicidal thoughts is seen by a mental health professional within 24 hours — a standard already set for the VA, but which the department often fails to meet.