BuffettNews.com

Posted: **January 29, 2006 12:28 pm**

NEW YORK - ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured Sunday in an attack and explosion while reporting from Iraq.

The two journalists were traveling with U.S. and Iraqi troops near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device went off, ABC News President David Westin said. Both suffered serious head injuries and were taken into surgery at a U.S. military hospital in the area, the network said.

Both Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were wearing body armor and helmets, the network said. The two had been embedded with the 4th Infantry Division and were traveling with an Iraqi Army unit.

The Iraqi mechanized vehicle they were riding in is considered more dangerous than U.S. vehicles. ABC said the two were traveling that way to get the perspective of the Iraqi military.

Officials at U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad confirmed that the ABC News team was involved in an attack but declined to provide further details to The Associated Press. An official military statement was expected to be issued later Sunday.

Woodruff, 44, became co-anchor of ABC News' "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas earlier this month, replacing the late Peter Jennings. In an unusual approach to evening news shows, one of the two co-anchors frequently reports from the studio in New York while the other reports from the field, as Woodruff was doing in Iraq.

Last week, Woodruff spent three days in Israel reporting on the outcome of the Palestinian elections. He was to have been in Iraq through the State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to ABC.

Woodruff, a father of four, grew up in Michigan and became a corporate lawyer in New York. He took a leave of absence to teach at a school in China, helped CBS News during the Tiananmen Square uprising and became hooked on journalism.

He has since covered the Justice Department and reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Belgrade and Kosovo.

"When I realized there was a job that existed in this world where I could be in the middle of huge world events and actually get paid for it, it was an epiphany for me," Woodruff told the AP in a recent interview.

Doug Vogt, 46, is a three-time Emmy award winning cameraman from Canada, with 25 years as a professional cameraman, the last 20 based in Europe covering global events for CBC, BBC and now exclusively for ABC News. He lives in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Dozens of journalists have been injured, killed or kidnapped in Iraq since the war began. The most visible among the American TV reporters was David Bloom of NBC News, who died from an apparent blood clot while traveling south of Baghdad on April 6, 2003.

Another journalist, Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped by gunmen Jan. 7 and is being held in Iraq. Some 250 foreigners have been taken captive since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and at least 39 have been killed.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 12:40 pm**

Phin Power to ALL

Posted: **January 29, 2006 12:59 pm**

It appears that both men have shrapnel wounds, and the cameraman has a broken shoulder as well. They were wearing helmets and goggles, so hopefully that lessened the extent of their injuries.

Lots of prayers and phin power to them and to their families.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 1:01 pm**

Bob Woodruff is co-anchor of ABC News' "World News Tonight," a role he has held since January 2006

Head injuries do not sound good. Phin power to both men that they pull through.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 2:45 pm**

This in encouraging, at least:

Posted: **January 29, 2006 2:54 pm**

Phin Power to all

~~~~~~~| ~~~~~~~~

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:34 pm**

I know I will probably get hammered for what I'm about to say. So be it.

First of all, this is NOT a slam on Zuke or anyone who has posted in this thread. What happened to these men is news, and I hope and pray they recover.

But when was the last time an injury to a U.S. SERVICE MEMBER made front page news?

This makes my blood boil that these men being injured is somehow more newsworthy than the guys and gals who are getting hit by roadside bombs every day. It's news, I know, and that's the way of the world, but it's still not right...

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:39 pm**

Thank you, I agree

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:39 pm**

I'd respectfully suggest that there be no hammering.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:40 pm**

I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE! I was wondering about posting this view, less someone accuse me of attacking the reporters while that was neither the intent nor issue.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:41 pm**

I thought it was all those Mojitos that Hammered you

WSGHS..

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:43 pm**

Wll said SGH,I totally agree

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:44 pm**

Well Ok I forgot that too..

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:44 pm**

Jen, I agree....but at least where I live it does make front page news. Maybe because we've had so many killed or injured from our area. It's the one thing our newspaper does right.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 6:59 pm**

I, for one, pray for the Servicemen daily. There is no slight here.

The newsmen also risk their lives to bring us documentation of our servicemens efforts and sacrifice.
Their efforts and sacrifice merit our prayers as well.

Posted: **January 29, 2006 7:45 pm**

It's always news around here too. And there's been way to much news of this kind

Our governor declares days of mourning whenever an Michigan soldier is killed. It seem like the flag is at half mast more often than not.... Every time I see it it just hits me in the gut because I know there's another family who lost a son, daughter, father, mother, etc...

No matter who it is, it is soo incredibly sad

Posted: **January 29, 2006 7:51 pm**

Usually, when a local person is seriously injured or killed in Iraq, it does make the news, because there are people in our area who know them.

We don't hear much about it when Joe Blow from Anytown get hit, unless the attack itself is newsworthy in its scope or scale or whatever.

These two journalists were well-known nationwide. It would have made the news if, instead of a roadside IED in Iraq, they had fallen victim of a drunk-driver on an American freeway.

But I feel your pain.

Phins up!

Posted: **January 30, 2006 8:03 am**

I'm with you, Jen. Watching Good Mornng America while I get ready this morning, and they are now beginning hour #2 of the Woodruff epic. I only wish the real fallen heroes could get this kind of coverage.

Posted: **January 30, 2006 8:47 am**

One of the free morning newspapers in NYC has this headline this morning: ANCHORMAN ATTACKED

I could be wrong but I seriously doubt if Bob Woodruff was the specific target of this bomb.

Posted: **January 30, 2006 9:01 am**

There are reasons newspapers are free.....

BuffettNews.com

ABC News Anchor seriously injured in Iraq

ABC News Anchor seriously injured in Iraq