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Wounded CBS Reporter Flown To Germany

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier - critically wounded Monday by a bomb that killed cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan – arrived Tuesday at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, for treatment at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital.

The three journalists - embedded with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division – were doing a Memorial Day story about what life is like for the troops in Baghdad when an explosives-packed car nearby suddenly blew up.

Dozier, Douglas and Brolan had been riding in an armored vehicle but at the time of the blast - in the Karada section of Baghdad - they were outside on the street, accompanying troops who had stopped to inspect a checkpoint manned by the Iraqi Army.

Douglas, 48, and Brolan, 42, died at the scene of the explosion, which also killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter and wounded six U.S. soldiers.

Kimberly Dozier, 39, was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, where she underwent two surgeries for injuries from the bombing and was stabilized enough to be able to make the trip early Tuesday to Germany.

According to a man who answered the phone at the home of Dozier's mother in Maryland, the family is flying to Germany to be by her side at Landstuhl.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports doctors in Iraq were able to remove shrapnel from Dozier's head but her more serious injuries are to her lower body. Doctors have said that they are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis.

Douglas, who was British, leaves a wife, Linda; two daughters, Kelly, 29, and Joanne, 26; and three grandchildren. Brolan, who was also British, leaves a wife, Geraldine, and two children, Sam, 18, and Agatha, 12.

The attack was among a wave of car and roadside bombs that left about three dozen people dead before noon Monday, including one explosion that killed 10 people on a bus. Nearly all the attacks occurred in Baghdad.

"This is a devastating loss for CBS News," said CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus, in a statement calling the three journalists "veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every single day. They always volunteered for dangerous assignments and were invaluable in our attempt to report the news to the American public."

"Our deepest sympathy goes out to the families of Paul and James, and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery by Kimberly," said McManus. "Countless men and women put their lives on the line, day in and day out, in Iraq and other dangerous spots around the world, and they deserve our utmost respect and gratitude for the work they do." McManus said.


CBS News Statement
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Correspondent Allen Pizzey On Colleagues
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Photo Essay: The Victims In The Field
Statement: Slain Soundman's Family
Bio: Kimberly Dozier
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Douglas, 48, had worked for CBS News in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, since the early 1990s. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.

Brolan, 42, was a freelancer who had worked with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan over the past year. He was part of the CBS News team that had received a 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for its reporting on the Pakistan earthquake.

"James was the best dad, the best husband and the best mate to be with in a tight spot out in the field," Brolan's family said in a statement. Before turning to journalism, Brolan served in the British Army, in the Royal Green Jackets infantry regiment, an experience that served him well in his chosen profession. His family says he "had a natural way with people and was always in demand as the person to go with to the world's trouble spots; always putting the locals at ease, winning friends everywhere he went and always putting in his best effort."

Brolan is survived by his wife of 20 years, Geri, and two children: 18-year-old Sam and 12-year-old Agatha.

Dozier, 39, has been a CBS News correspondent reporting from Iraq for the past three years. Her previous assignments include the post of London bureau chief and chief European correspondent for CBS Radio News from 1996-2002, and as chief correspondent for WCBS-TV's Middle East bureau. Dozier is the recipient of three American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) Gracie Awards for her radio reports on Mideast violence, Kosovo and the Afghan war.

In addition to being notably fearless, fast on her feet, insightful and accurate, Dozier has a lifelong interest in world events and the academic credentials to back it up. She has a University of Virginia master's degree in foreign affairs, specializing in the Mideast, and graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College, where she majored in human rights and Spanish.

All three journalists are believed to have been wearing protective gear at the time of the explosion.

Scores of journalists – nearly 75 percent of them Iraqis - have been injured, killed or kidnapped in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the government of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"These brave journalists risked their lives to tell the world the story of a courageous people and a proud nation," said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad. "The terrorists who committed this evil crime have shown themselves for who they are. They do not want the world to see the truth of what is happening in Iraq, where a determined people are fighting for freedom and liberty. That story must and will be told."

"The news profession has lost nearly 100 people in this devastating war—71 journalists and 26 support staffers," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in extending sympathy to the Douglas and Brolan families and expressing concern for Dozier. "Dozens more have been injured or kidnapped in one of the most dangerous conflicts that journalists have ever covered."

Another group, Reporters Without Borders, voiced "deep sadness" at the news of the CBS News crew deaths.

"The security situation is becoming more and more alarming for the press in Iraq. Although better protected, embedded journalists are not completely isolated from the dangers," the group said, noting that only six of the journalists killed in Iraq were embedded with U.S. forces.

In January, ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt and anchor Bob Woodruff were injured while covering the war in Iraq. They were standing in the hatch of an Iraqi mechanized vehicle, reporting on the war from the Iraqi troops' perspective, when a roadside bomb exploded. Both were wearing body armor, which doctors say likely saved their lives.

Vogt has returned home to France for rehabilitation. Woodruff, who co-anchored "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas, is also still on the mend, recovering from serious head injuries and broken bones. ABC News announced last week that Charles Gibson will take over as "World News Tonight" anchor.

Another high profile casualty among journalists came in April 2003, when NBC News correspondent David Bloom, 39, died from an apparent blood clot while embedded with U.S. troops near Baghdad.

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