Redstate

How sad that it took almost dying to get there

By haystack Posted in War — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Bob Woodruff was severely injured in an attack in Iraq back in January 2006 while embedded north of Baghdad. Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously wounded by an improvised explosive device that hit the Iraqi personnel carrier they were riding in.

According to an LA Times piece:

The bomb shattered Woodruff's left shoulder and pelted his body with shrapnel, including a half-dollar-sized rock that pierced his neck, barely missing a key artery. In the immediate days after the explosion, he came close to death several times. The 45-year-old father of four was in a medically induced coma for 36 days.

As you might expect:

Woodruff and his wife, Lee, wrote a book, being released today, about his recuperation.

Writing a book seems to be the “thing” to do these days, and I might otherwise rail and rant about how he (like so many others) capitalize ON themselves, FOR themselves without any deference to the brave Soldiers with him that terrible day.

This man is refreshingly different.

Woodruff has a newfound appreciation for the suffering and sacrifice our Soldiers and Heroes endure in defense of our country. He “got religion” you might say, and he selflessly means to get THEIR stories told. According to the Times piece:

He continues rehabilitation once a week and is working on other pieces about returning soldiers that will air in the coming weeks.

Tonight, ABC will air an hour-long documentary called "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports," and according to the Times piece, “in the documentary, he does not dwell on his story. Much of the piece is devoted to the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries among U.S. troops and the limited rehabilitation care available for them when they return.”

Woodruff had this to say about his piece tonight:

"It was very important to me that this story … be about the other ones who went through this same kind of thing," he said. "So many I've met have been in so much worst situations. They need a lot more help."

He, at least, gets it finally.

Why can’t more of our so-called “Journalists” turn their backs on their editorial agendas, and their “if it bleeds it reads” mentality, and fight FOR our GI’s instead of always fighting AGAINST them?

More below the fold…

More from the Times:

Tom Yellin, executive producer of the documentary, said he was struck by the reportorial approach Woodruff took. "Bob's soul is of a journalist," Yellin said. "His interest from the beginning was following the story with others and looking into the care that soldiers were getting, and he wasn't dwelling on his own circumstances."

It’s about GD time.

Back in June 2006, I wrote about Capt. Funkhouser who was killed saving the life of a CNN embed who lost her cameramen and narrowly escaped death herself. Inspired by CJ’s initial coverage of this story at Soldier’s Perspective, I rode with the PatriotGuard Riders to help see this hero laid to rest with the honor and dignity he deserved.

The MilBlog world (and some others) was deeply offended, outraged, and incensed that the headline was"Journalist in the Line of Fire" , mentioning her crew by name yet ONLY referring to Funkhouser as "a US Soldier".

Funkhouser’s story inspired CJ to begin a project and launch a website called They Have Names, where you can meet these brave Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, learn about their families and friends, hear some of their personal stories and get some idea of just what was lost in their passing.

Far too often the media only gives us numbers of military casualties, while seeming to place a higher value on the lives of the civilians and journalists that die in this war. They DO have names, and they DID have lives-every one of them equally as important and valuable and meaningful as those that have died in a non-military role.

It’s about time SOMEONE in the media has come around to getting that.