The CBS Evening News deserves kudos for its continuing coverage of Kimberly Dozier‘s injuries. Tonight’s broadcast included Sheila MacVicar‘s interview with the correspondent’s parents. Her mom talked about the next step in her treatment: “I think maybe flying her back to the states where she’ll get some other treatment. She’s going to have to have rods in her legs. And they were pretty badly injured.”
Also: “Something happened that surprised and moved all of us this afternoon,” MacVicar reported. “A young American soldier came up to Kimberly’s brother Michael and told him that he had met Kimberly in Iraq two years ago after he had been wounded with shrapnel in his arm. The soldier had his purple heart with him, and he told Michael that he’d now like Kimberly to have it because, he said, she’s suffered as much as any soldier. That purple heart is now beside Kimberly’s bed.”
Click continued for the full transcript of tonight’s segments…
RUSS MITCHELL, anchor:
Our wounded correspondent Kimberly Dozier is being treated for head and leg injuries at the US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Sheila MacVicar is there and sat down with her parents today and received some encouraging news about Kimberly’s condition.
SHEILA MacVICAR reporting:
Good news tonight about Kimberly. She’s awake and, best of all, communicating with her family and boyfriend. She’s writing down questions and demanding answers, a big step on what will be a long journey. I spoke with her parents Benjamin and Dorothy Dozier, who arrived here yesterday from their home in the states.
Ms. DOROTHY DOZIER (Mother): When I walked into the room and saw her, it really impacted what that was all about and how closely we came to maybe losing her.
To hold her hand and have her little thumb wiggle so that she knew us, I’m just delighted with the improvement in the time we’ve been here.
Mr. BENJAMIN DOZIER (Father): She’s as sharp as a tack, really.
MacVICAR: She knows where she is?
Mr. DOZIER: She knows where she is. She knows the questions to ask. One of the very first questions she asked was how her teammates were. She didn’t know at that point.
MacVICAR: And how did Kimberly react?
Ms. DOZIER: You could tell that it had–it upset her. She kind of closed her eyes and…when she can voice her feelings, it will be much easier for her.
MacVICAR: What’s the next step, do you think?
Ms. DOZIER: I think maybe flying her back to the states where she’ll get some other treatment. She’s going to have to have rods in her legs. And they were pretty badly injured.
Mr. DOZIER: And all of the doctors and all of the people we’ve talked to here have just been fantastic. They really have.
Ms. DOZIER: I…
Mr. DOZIER: And we surely appreciate it.
Ms. DOZIER: I can’t begin to tell you the difference in how happy and optimistic we feel. I know she’s got a hard road ahead of her, but it’s Kimberly.
MacVICAR: Something happened that surprised and moved all of us this afternoon. A young American soldier came up to Kimberly’s brother Michael and told him that he had met Kimberly in Iraq two years ago after he had been wounded with shrapnel in his arm. The soldier had his purple heart with him, and he told Michael that he’d now like Kimberly to have it because, he said, she’s suffered as much as any soldier. That purple heart is now beside Kimberly’s bed.
* * *
MITCHELL: The two men CBS News lost in Iraq on Monday made their final trip home today.
Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both Britains, their flag-draped caskets were flown to London where they were met by their families and their CBS News colleagues, who gathered at the airport to pay tribute.
Mr. ANDY CLARKE (CBS News, London): We’re here today to remember and to celebrate the lives of two brave journalists. They were husbands to Geri and to Linda, dads to Kelly and Joe, Sam and Agatha. But to most of us here, they were mates.
Ms. LINDA DOUGLAS (Wife of Paul Douglas): He has that smile. He has that ability to light up a room, and I’m going to so miss him. But I’ve got so many memories.
Ms. JOANNE DOUGLAS (Daughter of Paul Douglas): So many kind people have sent so many kind messages from around the world and stories that we never even heard. And it just shows that he didn’t just touch our hearts, he touched the hearts of so many people. And we’re so, so proud of him.
Mr. SEAN McMANUS (CBS News President): I hope you will all know, Linda and Geri and your entire families, that you will always be part of our family at CBS News. And please, don’t ever forget that, please.
Mr. MARK PHILLIPS (CBS News, London) This, quite frankly, is the day we’ve always dreaded. This was always the day of the unspoken horror, and now it’s happened. To their families and to Paul and James, welcome home.
MITCHELL: And, of course, our thoughts here are with the families and with our colleagues at our CBS News London bureau, whose names you will see as we leave you tonight.
For Bob Schieffer, I’m Russ Mitchell in New York. Good night.