after they decided on anonymity. once david hackworth broke the story, other news organizations were able to follow his reporting, track down those letters. in fact, he was proven to be right. it was november 2004 when hackworth wrote that column. the following month, december 2004 it was leo shane writing stars and stripes, ivan med a medina, a new york resident, whose twin brother irving told stripes, quote, to me it s an insult not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in iraq. illinois betty sullivan whose son was killed in 2003, she was incensed when she and her son s wife and her grandchildren all received the exact same condolence letter with the apparently stamped signature. sullivan told stripes, quote, how many signatures does this
the following month, december 2004 it was leo shane writing at stars and stripes, ivan medina, a new york resident, whose twin brother irving was killed in a road bombing in 2004, told stars and stripes, to me it is an insult not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in iraq. illinois betty sullivan whose son was killed in 2003, she was incensed when she and her son s wife and her grandchildren all received the exact same condolence letter with the apparently stamped signature. sullivan told stripes, quote, how many signatures does this amount to? for those of his wife and children and mother, no, no, no. so david hackworth started off that reporting. and the pentagon denied it, but hackworth was proven out and donald rumsfeld and the pentagon ultimately relented.