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View Full Version : Magazine Journalists, Troops Hurt in Iraq



farmgirl
12-12-2003, 01:10 AM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=2&u=/ap/20031212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_journalists_woundedBy NIKO PRICE, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Time magazine reporter suffered severe shrapnel wounds and lost his hand when he tried to throw away a grenade tossed into a Humvee he was riding in with a Time photographer and two U.S. soldiers, colleagues said Thursday.

Time senior correspondent Michael Weisskopf and contributing photographer James Nachtwey were traveling with a U.S. Army patrol in Baghdad Wednesday night when the attack occurred, a statement from Time managing editor Jim Kelly said.

The soldiers also were wounded, the U.S. military said, but gave no further information.

Time would not offer details on the incident. But a memo sent to Weisskopf's former colleagues at The Washington Post said he picked up the grenade and tossed it out of the Humvee. It exploded, blowing off his hand and wounding him in the chest and arms. The memo said Nachtwey received shrapnel wounds that were not as serious.

"According to people he works with at Time, he picked up the grenade and tossed it out, losing his right hand in the process while saving four lives," the memo said.

A military spokesman said they were with a unit of the Army's 1st Armored Division.

The military official, who spoke only condition of anonymity, said one of the journalists was severely wounded and the other was slightly injured, but would not say which. Time said both were in stable condition and were awaiting transfer to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

The memo said Weisskopf's wife, Judith, had spoken with him and he was eager to return home. He was to return to Washington within a few days, the memo said.

Nachtwey is an award-winning photographer known for haunting images of war and poverty. He was the subject of a 2001 Oscar-nominated documentary, "War Photographer," and has won many awards. This year he shared a $1 million Dan David prize for documenting "the apocalyptic events of our time."

Weisskopf is an award-winning correspondent based in Washington. He covers national politics and investigations and was a finalist in the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers has said that at least 16 journalists have been killed in Iraq (news - web sites) this year. Many others have been wounded.

In the last known incident, police said the editor of an independent newspaper in the northern city of Mosul was shot and killed on Oct. 28.

aktarian
12-12-2003, 05:35 AM
Moral of the story: stay away from US troops in Iraq if you want to live (and keep all body parts).

Vance
12-12-2003, 07:44 AM
Pretty heroic of that guy if you ask me.

ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð
12-12-2003, 10:06 AM
*waiting for someone to bash embedded reporters in Iraq right about now..*
Now if someone asks you if the embedding process is any good, just ask those american soldiers in the Humvee that got saved by the photographer.

Roger Rabbit
12-12-2003, 11:07 AM
I have two views.

1)it will sometimes be a great distraction for soliders who are trying to do their job if journalists are all over the place. Not to mention the additional time and cost spent getting them to where they want to be, stopping them from going to places they're not meant to be and protecting them.

2)The public has, to a certain extent, the right to know what is going on and should be made aware. The journalists at times show great courage and professionality(is that a word?) in doing their job.