New ABC News Studios Special Chronicles Journalist Bob Woodruff’s Return to Iraq To Visit the Site of the Roadside Bombing That Almost Took His Life in 2006

Premiering Just Before Veterans Day, The Special Follows the Longtime ABC News Correspondent as He Reunites With Iraqi Locals From His Life-Changing Reporting Trip and Examines the Lessons and Legacy of War

ABC News Studios announced today “After The Blast: The Will To Survive,” a new special chronicling ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff’s emotional journey back to Iraq, where a split-second event changed his life forever. In early 2006, then-anchor Woodruff was reporting in war-torn Iraq when a horrific roadside bombing nearly took his life. He made it home after receiving lifesaving care from the U.S. military, but the attack left him with a traumatic brain injury and an extensive and painstaking recovery.

Now, almost 20 years later, Woodruff returns to the explosion site for the very first time to an area once known as the “Triangle of Death,” with his son, Mack, by his side. There, Woodruff reunites with the Iraqis who worked alongside the American troops to help save him as he retraces his 72 hours on the ground in 2006 and reexamines the implications of this war. Woodruff comes face-to-face with his past, talks candidly about the painful lessons he’s learned, and looks ahead to the future as he pursues his post-war mission to ensure no wounded veteran is left behind.

The one-hour network special features interviews with ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz; Woodruff family members, including his wife Lee Woodruff and son Mack Woodruff, one of the cinematographer who documents the trip back to Iraq; colleagues who were with Woodruff at the time of the explosion, including ABC News sound technician Magnus Macedo, former ABC News senior producer Kate Felsen, ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt, Army Col. Mike Jason (retired) and former Iraqi interpreter Omar Aljaff; Purple Heart Iraq veterans who were wounded in the war and more.

The hour will also showcase The Bob Woodruff Foundation’s annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit, including exclusive footage from the November 2023 event with performances by Josh Groban, Rita Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Jon Stewart, and John Mellencamp. “After The Blast: The Will To Survive” airs on Friday, November 10 (8:00-9:00PM EST), on ABC, next day on Hulu.