Wounded CBS correspondent airlifted to Germany
CBS network correspondent and Hawaii native Kimberly Dozier, who was critically injured in Iraq Monday, was airlifted yesterday to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest military overseas hospital, her aunt, Marion Dozier, told the Star-Bulletin.
Kimberly Dozier, 39, was born on Oahu and lived here until she was 5, her family said.
She was in a convoy with the 4th Brigade Combat Team in central Baghdad when a car bomb exploded.
Killed in the blast were Dozier's cameraman, Paul Douglas, 48, and a soundman, James Brolan, 42, both of Great Britain; an American soldier; and an Iraqi translator.
Marion Dozier, who lives in Kihei, said she understands her niece had suffered head and body injuries.
"Our prayers are with her," Marion Dozier added. "She is such an alive person."
She believes that her niece's parents, Ben and Dorothy Dozier, left their home in Baltimore to be with their daughter in Germany. Also making the trip was one Dozier's four brothers, Michael, who graduated from the University of Hawaii.
Marion Dozier said that Kimberly Dozier also has two other brothers who live in Hawaii, Robert on the Big Island and Douglas in Kailua.
"They are a widespread family," she said.
She said her niece left Hawaii when she was about 5 since her father was a construction engineer and took a job on Guam building shelters for Vietnamese refugees.
"The family even adopted a Vietnamese girl, Mei Lee, while they were there," Marion Dozier added.
When Ben Dozier took a job in Iran, "he took his wife, Kimberly and their adopted daughter and stayed there until Iran fell."
"Kim was always interested in the Middle East and spent a year in Israel while in college," said Marion Dozier, noting that her niece spoke both Arabic and Hebrew.
Although Marion Dozier said the last time she saw her niece was four years ago in London, she said she followed her niece's career by the stories she filed for CBS News and by e-mail.
"She had just returned from visiting her parents in Baltimore," Marion Dozier added. "I was just about to e-mail her on Sunday."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.