Breathing the Fire

Book excerpt: “A harrowing tale of courage, survival, determination, fellowship and the high price of covering a war . . . a master storyteller and one tough journalist.” —Tom Brokaw CBS Foreign Correspondent Kimberly Dozier shares her compelling story from being injured in Iraq to her recovery . . . shedding light on the ordeal faced by countless combat veterans and civilians. In a flash, Kimberly Dozier’s life changed. As an award-winning CBS News reporter, Dozier had devoted her career to being in the right place at the right time to capture the story. Suddenly, in the wrong place at the worst time, she became the story, as a deadly explosion tore through her team and the troops they were following, and a word spread worldwide. That Memorial Day in 2006, a routine mission ended with Dozier in a pool of blood on a Baghdad street, a victim of a car bomb that killed her team, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, as well as U.S. Army Captain James Alex Funkhouser and his translator. Critically injured, Dozier woke to find herself fighting first for survival, then for recovery, and finally to return to the field. Breathing the Fire tracks one woman’s relentless determination to get the story, to get it right, and to get well again after everything went wrong. The paperback was produced at the request of hospital caregivers, who find the book helps trauma patients and the families supporting them. The author’s profits go to wounded warrior charities. “A rare, personal view—with all the attention to detail a great reporter brings to bear—into an experience shared by thousands of wounded Iraq veterans.” —Dan Rather