Bob and Doug

please keep us updated on bob's progress. i hope this slow process will come and go and bob can return home to his family and to the job he loves. my best wishes to him and family
he is in my thoughts and prayers for a full recovery.
nancy

Thank you for the update. You are probably weary of requests for information but a weekly report would be very much appreciated. I realize Bob has a long road ahead of him. I didn't think I could miss anyone more than I do Peter but I was wrong...

When one doesn't hear any news -- we all assume it's bad. Please give us updates on Bob's progress - we all miss him very much and the World News Tonight isn't the same without him.
Is there an address where we could mail him a card?

I will continue to pray for the recovery of Bob and Doug. My heart goes out to them and their loved ones. Thank you for the updates. Miss you guys, get well soon!

Thanks for the update on Bob and Doug. Please try to update us at least weekly. I really feel for both these guys, because I'm about the same age, and I can't imagine trying to get through the recovery both of them have already endured and will continue to endure. My thoughts and prayers are with these gutsy guys and their equally brave families.

I would like to be kept informed of Bob's progress, I have been very worried because there is no information out there. My best to Bob for a speedy recovery and I hope his family is well.

Dear folks,

Like so many of our soldiers, Bob was SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY injured in that IED attack in which multiple pieces of shrapnel were blown into his brain. The first American medic who reached him thought he was dead. That information alone should tell you that all is not well.

On February 24, 2006, Marlene wrote “I have been very worried because there is no information out there.”

Marlene, why do you think that is the case? Answer: We don’t really WANT to know what happened to Bob AND the hundreds – if not thousands – of American soldiers who have suffered similar injuries. And the media has bent over backward to accommodate our desire not to see or hear about the grisly consequences of our decision to go to war in Iraq. Too unsettling for our queasy stomachs. Too disturbing for all those who were cheerleaders for this war? Hey, if we saw, night after night on the evening news, what war does to the human body, we might actually reconsider our stance on the war. But we don’t WANT to be reminded that another generation of shredded American veterans has been born, honored when the country needs heroes to inspire the next generation into enlisting, but forgotten the rest of the time, left to pinch pennies and rub the stumps of arms and legs torn off in a blinding flash of pain and light.

Why DOESN’T ABC give details about Bob’s injuries? Why didn’t ABC even show any of the AP photos, taken by Michael Probst, being loaded into an airplane at Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the flight back to the U.S.
(you can see one photo by pasting this URL into your web browser http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/02/01/international/01anchor_CA0.ready.html) Why DOESN’T ABC show us a picture of Bob in the hospital if, as Mr. Westin insinuates, he is “moving along his path to recovery”?

Out of sight, out of mind. The mainstream media has sanitized this war: you will NEVER see on any news program what war can do to the human body because you don’t WANT to see it.. Ask yourself these questions. Have you EVER seen a picture or video of an injured soldier screaming in pain on the battlefield or in a field hospital? Have you EVER seen a picture or photo of a brain-damaged solder on ABC News as he or she struggles even to talk? Have you EVER seen a picture of a dead soldier, lying in a pool of blood? When was the last time you saw a video or photo on ABC News (or ANY TV news program) of family members sobbing at the funeral of a soldier blown to pieces, burned to death, or shot to death in Iraq? Have you EVER read a story in any American newspaper like this one – http://www.counterpunch.com/franchetti03312003.html – originally published in the London Times at the beginning of the war? Probably NEVER!! Because it would just be too disturbing. Hey, we might actually be forced to think about the real-life consequences of going to war.

And Bob’s story is a perfect example of the media’s continued efforts to sanitize the war: see no evil, speak no evil, and you will never be troubled by your support of this war. And the TV stations will not lose viewers and the newspapers will not lose readers.

What happened to Bob is what is happening to a LOT of American soldiers. The suffer devastating brain injuries and disappear into the armed services and VA medical system, never to be heard about again. After all, if we actually saw PICTURES of them on the battle field after they were shredded by shrapnel, or saw PICTURES of them in the hospitals, or received DETAILED information on their wounds with a reality-based prognosis for their ever being able to resume their former lives, we might actually get uncomfortable.

Marlene, you wan to know about Bob. OK, let’s parse the information we have been provided about Bob.

“Lee told me that Bob ‘reacts to their voices, returns their smiles and is initiating kisses.’ ”
TRANSLATION:
He DOES recognize his wife and kids. He is giving kisses, but is so brain-damaged that he can’t hug them or even speak to them.

“Bob has been out of bed in a chair”
TRANSLATION:
Bob was moved from his chair to his bed. He certainly didn’t get into that chair on his own steam.

“…and his physical strength continues to impress his entire team.”
TRANSLATION:
Impossible to figure out what this means. But Bob was fit before he was almost blown to bits, and, with daily physical therapy, with those physical therapists moving his arms and legs, he has retained much of his muscle tone and strength for the day – far in the future – when he tries to sit up in bed or stand up or hug his wife and kids.

In short, what WASN’T said is far more revealing that what was said. It is highly unlikely that Bob Woodruff will ever make it back into that anchor chair for at least two or three years, if ever. And ABC News doesn’t have the guts to tell you this, just like they don’t have the guts to show the human consequences of this war. Before the war, the mainstream news media, especially the TV news media, largely behaved like the president’s lapdogs and failed to challenge the necessity for this war before it began because of their fear of alienating their viewers and readers. a largely gullible, naïve, intellectually lazy populace which had developed mass amnesia when it came to the lessons of Vietnam and caved into their fears of amorphous terrorism. The TV news media STILL fears alienating their viewers with the truth of the appalling human costs of this war. No guts, which is why you will NEVER see a picture of Bob right now, will never get detailed information on his injuries. Maybe in two or three years, when his condition will be more “acceptable,” but certainly not now.

But maybe Mr. Westin could develop a spine. Maybe he could summon up the nerve to go to Bob Woodruff’s wife and beg her to allow ABC News to tell his (and her family’s) story and do weekly segments on his condition and how they are coping. He could tell her that so many soldiers have suffered the same injuries, but the American public has no idea of how badly these soldiers have been wounded as a consequence of our collective acquiescence to Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq. He could tell her that we can’t tell THEIR stories or THEIR families’ stories, but ABC News CAN tell Bob’s story as a reflection of what so many of our soldiers and their families are going through. He could tell Bob’s wife that he knows this could be painful for her, but that the American public needs to know what is REALLY happening to so many soldiers that are suffering the same type of wounds, and Bob could be the means to tell that story.

Oh, and Mr. Westin, try to discourage Mrs. Woodruff from taking her husband out of the Bethesda Naval Hospital. I am sure she wants her husband back home. But Bob will never get the kind of experienced long-term care outside the military hospital system that he can get inside it. After all where else will he get care from doctor’s nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, social workers and mental health workers who have treated SO many people with the same type of injuries? Where could SHE get supports from family members going through what she is going through. Experience DOES count!

Wow Anne you must have a hands on experience with an injured soldier. I also have a unique outlook on this war. I do think Bush and his quest to finish his father's mess led us down the wrong path...lies and half truths have lead us to death and distruction. However, I have been there to support our troops in Iraq and their family members. I have worked with the 52nd Engineers out of Colorado Springs, CO and I have to say there is a lot of good going on along with a lot of death. I do not believe that we need to show dead and bleeding bodies on TV to emphasize the destruction of our American Boys and Girls that have give their lives to serve this country to give you the chance to have free speach. I believe in the armed services and all they do for us.

My father served in Iraq with more dignety and respect than I believe you deserve. My father was in his 50's when he landed in Iraq with two sets of cloths and no place to sleep for three days. They lived out of their packs for one month before their trunks and equipment showed up. Even when he had the chance to come home because of medical conditions he chose to stay with his men out of a sence of duty. I do not believe that you would do the same.

I have the most respect for the military do I believe that we need to be there? No, I do not. However, we are there and we are doing a lot of good to for the people of Iraq. Yes, I believe we have lost a lot of brave men and women in this unjust war however, I would not ask the American Military to just abandon all the good for all of the evil doers because that would not stop the bombing of American's on foreign soil. Have you thought about all the soldiers who died on the USS Cole? Have you thought about all the people who died at the golden mosc?

Yes, Bob Woodruff has along road ahead of him and I am proud of Bob for going to Iraq to follow the news; because without people like Bob we would not be receiving the information and the pliet of the Iraqi people. I comend ABC and the family of Bob Woodruff for not continuely publishing information about him all over the news however, the american people have the right to know how he is doing. This is a time when Bob's family needs to be kept seperate from the rest of the world so they have time to enjoy what is left of a caring and strong man. Yes, Bob may never be the same and yes, he may never return to the anchor desk, but Bob can still live a full life with his family.

I do not think that Bob's life needs to be an example of Bush's mistake. If you feel like you Anne need to see how the soldiers deal with missing body parts and tell a soldiers story I suggest you go to a VA Hospital in your local area and write a story for your area news paper. Don't make Bob's story a way for you to spill your rage and anger for this unjust war on the American people. And yes, I have a family member who was injuried in the line of duty in Iraq and his is working just as hard now as then even though Uncle Sam has released him from service.

I may not support this war but I sure support our men and women in the armed services...because I still have a friend over in Iraq and I pray everyday that Captian Ryan Johnson from Ft. Carson Colorado comes home safe.

Anne,

I have to agree with you with regard to the fact that the media considers the public reaction when not showing guesome injuries. If this were not the case then surely we would have the opportunity to see a thousand or so instances daily of people killed or seriously injured via car accidents alone. But, it is the case and on the seldom occasion that some entity releases something that the public deems inappropriate there is always a substantial hue and cry.

But the purpose of your posting was really to vent about the decision to go to war. And in doing so you insult Mr. Westin and cast aspersions on the media based solely on assumption. Have you considered that possibly the family of Bob Woodruff wants some privacy?

I see that most of the posts here offer support and encouragement for Bob Woodruff and his family. I offer the same. He is a excellent reporter and anchor.