US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld has decided to personally sign condolence letters to the families of US troops killed in action rather than let a machine stamp his signature.
In a statement, Mr Rumsfeld announced the change in policy and said more than 1,000 condolence letters had gone out to relatives of Americans killed in military action during the global fight against terrorism.
"While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," he said.
Republican and Democratic members of Congress criticised the embattled Pentagon chief yesterday for not signing the letters himself all along.
"My goodness, that's the least that we could expect of the Secretary of Defence, is having some personal attention paid by him," said Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, noting that President George Bush signed such letters himself.
Democratic senator Jack Reed said Mr Rumsfeld's failure to sign letters himself until now displayed "his lack of leadership styles that are appropriate for the military".
Mr Rumsfeld's statement, which was reported by the military newspaper, Stars & Stripes, did not specifically refer to troops killed in Iraq, though family members of soldiers who died there told the newspaper they were angry with Mr Rumsfeld's apparent stamped signature.
More than 1,300 US troops have died since the war began in March 2003.
AP