MAG WRITER HURT IN BAGHDAD BLAST - Weisskopf Loses Hand

New York Post ^ | 12/12/03 | AP

[leadpenny]

Hope all are recovering.

[kcvl]

[kcvl]

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.




http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/31212iIraq-journalists.html

[xm177e2]

he tried to throw away a grenade tossed into a Humvee in which he was riding with a photographer and two GIs

Damn. That's a hell of a thing to do.

[VOA]

"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.

Just about a repeat of the story of the Santos kid on the CBS show last night.

Well, for all the heck I give Time, thank goodness this journalist had the coolness
to grab the grenade and get it out of the interior of the cab.
I wonder if he can get some sort of military-decoration recognizing his action that
probably preserved the lives of the soldiers aboard the Humvee.

[MEG33]

I heard this on Fox .His quick thinking saved lives.I am so sorry he lost his hand.

[weegee]

A horrible thing to happen but it could have been far worse. He was brave to do what he did (even it it was non-thinking survival instinct). Congratulations on preventing a catestrophic tragedy.

[Imal]

Damn. Just damn.

[weegee]

If my tagline comments seem incongruous with my sentiments it is because they are directed at another Time reporter's "journalistic" acts (going undercover with terrorists who showed footage of them attacking US troops).

[leadpenny]

Thanks for the pics. I was trying to place him.

I don't read Time or The Washington Post but the bastards who did this are not only fighting the best military force in the World, but they are also F'ing with those who are trying to report what is going on.

[Ichneumon]

Even though I frequently rag on reporters in general, and Time in particular, if events occurred as described in the article, the reporter deserves a medal and all the support we can give him.

[Fledermaus]

Good man, a CNN reporter would have jumped out of the truck and let the grenade explode. (bite me if anyone thinks that's harsh)

[Fawnn]

(bite me if anyone thinks that's harsh)

And what should we do if we agree? ;)

[Sandy]

MICHAEL WEISSKOPF

Senior Political Correspondent, TIME

Michael Weisskopf is a senior correspondent for TIME in the magazine's Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers national politics and investigations. He covered the developments in the Monica Lewinsky story and during the 2000 election, did pieces on George W. Bush's record in Texas. He is the co-author of Truth At Any Cost, a book on the Kenneth Starr probe published in April of 2000 by HarperCollins.

In 1998, Weisskopf, along with Washington Bureau Chief Michael Duffy and Correspondent Viveca Novak, was awarded the prestigious Goldsmith Award for Investigative Reporting, sponsored by Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy, for their portfolio of investigative stories on campaign finance abuses. (TIME shared that award with the Seattle Times.) In 1999, he and chief political correspondent Eric Pooley were given the Henry R. Luce award for "Outstanding Story" for a piece they wrote on Kenneth Starr called "How Starr Sees It."

Weisskopf joined TIME in January 1997 from The Washington Post. In his 20 years with the Post, he covered politics, the environment and the Pentagon. He was the paper's correspondent in China from 1980 to 1985 and covered the hostage crisis in Iran in 1979 and 1980. Prior to joining the Post, Weisskopf covered politics and government for The Baltimore Sun. He began his career in journalism at The Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery, Alabama.

While at the Post, Weisskopf won the George Polk Award for national coverage and The Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress. In 1996 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. He is the co-author with David Maraniss of Tell Newt to Shut Up, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Gingrich revolution and was published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster's paperback division.

Weisskopf received his Master of Arts from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his Bachelors degree from George Washington University. He is fluent in Chinese.

He lives in the District of Columbia with his wife Judith, their two children, Skyler and Olivia, two dogs and three cats.

(December 2000)

[faithincowboys]

Well, what choice did he have. Thank God he reacted how he did. That's when repetition in cinema helps.

[faithincowboys]

Thanks for the backstory. Without it, it would have ended up somewhere as evidence of Freeper heartlessness.

[DustyMoment]

My sentiments EXACTLY!!

[wretchard]

Politics probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans when a hand grenade sails in through the window. At that point everyone is just a man and wants to live. I hope that I could do as well if something like that ever happens to me.

[mass55th]

"Damn. That's a hell of a thing to do."

Amen to that friend.