In An Instant

Bob Woodruff, an ABC news reporter and soon to be anchor, nearly died when an IED detonated near his convoy. In An Instant, a book co-written by Woodruff and his wife Lee, describes the event and the struggle of the family to deal with the trauma.

The book starts with explosion and the phone call that the President of ABC made to Lee while she and the children visited Disney World. She knew it was bad because, as she notes, the President of the company doesn't call employees spouses while they are on vacation.

After describing the near miraculous survival, thanks to luck and the excellent medical care provided by the Army, and her trip to Germany to see her husband, the book jumps back to the 80s and begins to tell the story of their marriage and life together up until the time of the bombing. I initially thought this was just filler, it provides important context and reinforces the strong bond between husband and wife.

I had assumed that the best parts of the book would be Bob Woodruff's remembrance of the events and his struggle for recovery. While those sections are good, the best parts is Lee Woodruff's story. She presents a remarkably lucid and grounded description of an emotional roller-coaster. What could have been mawkish is instead a moving look at the toll the war takes on families.

The book can be read as one family's struggle, but it can also be read as part of a national tragedy as so many soldiers come home wounded to families with far fewer resources than the Woodruffs.