1. [ good deeds]
LEE
WOODRUFF
STANDING UP FOR OUR
NATION’S HEROES
BY KAREN M. ROMANELLI
A wake-up call. That’s what Lee Woodruff
thought she was getting when her hotel phone
rang at 7am. It was the last day of a long
weekend in Disney World and the mother of four
kids had plans to tour Epcot. Instead of a hotel
operator waking her up, on the other end of the
phone was the president of ABC News telling
Woodruff that her husband, Bob Woodruff, co-
anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight, along with
his cameraman, had been hit by a roadside
bomb while covering the war in Iraq. The news
broke quickly that Bob was nearly killed and
suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“I sort of became this ‘general’ in my mind
and I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t let
the enormity completely absorb me because I
had to make the sure the kids were OK. And
probably half of that was shock,” says Woodruff.
Forty-eight hours later Woodruff, a broadcast
and magazine journalist, was by her husband’s
bed in a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
Bob had surgery in which half of his skull
was removed, and he remained in a coma for
36 days. His recovery lasted almost a year.
But what came of that tragic wake-up call 10
years ago, and more so from Bob’s incredible
healing, catapulted a series of inspirations for
the Woodruffs. Together the couple wrote the
best seller, In an Instant, a memoir chronicling
their journey of Bob’s injuries and recovery. It
was while on their book tour the couple realized
the need for action.
“People would just come up to us, hand us $20
and say please make sure this gets to a soldier,”
recalls Woodruff. The trigger to start a foundation
for wounded veterans came from a consortium
of people around the country. In 2007 the Bob
Woodruff Foundation (BWF) was created with
what Woodruff calls an “immediate ground swell
of support and attention.”
I KNEW
WHAT I HAD
TO DO”
“
Lee Woodruff.
Photo credit: Stefan Radtke.

2. LL • 104 • SPRING 2016
THE HIDDEN WOUNDS OF WAR
Based in New York City, The BWF’s mission “is to ensure
injured veterans and their families are thriving long after they
return home.” Being “thrown into a military environment” that
was foreign to Woodruff was yet another catalyst to create the
organization. As Bob recovered at Bethesda Naval Hospital
the couple discovered that the next phase of rehabilitation—
employment, mental health, and education was one of the biggest
struggles the brave young Americans faced when returning home.
At the heart of this organization is the healing of not just the
physical but the hidden wounds of war.
“No one is walking around with their uniform after they’ve come
home saying ‘Do something for me.’” And with Long Island
ranked as having the highest rate of war veterans in the state
(according to the New York State Department of Labor) and more
than 2.8 million U.S. service members having been deployed
to Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11, the BWF is set on creating
pathways to longer-term success and meaningful lives for them.
“People just assume that as a nation we take care of our military,
that we probably do everything for them, that’s a common
misconception,” explains Woodruff.
SELLING OUT, STANDING UP, DINING OUT
Selling out The Theater at Madison Square Garden with Bruce
Springsteen belting out “Born in the USA” along with a sea of
other musical and comedic celebrities is a definite force behind
the foundation’s success. Stand Up For Heroes, the benefit that
Springsteen has headlined for the past nine years, raised $6.2
million in 2015. In just under a decade, the non-profit has raised
more than $30 million and has navigated through a maze of over
46,000 organizations that provide service to vets, and also finds,
funds and shapes original programs.
Caroline Hirsch, founder and owner of the popular comedy
and nightclub Caroline’s on Broadway, a long-time BWF board
member has taken the lead in organizing the outstanding night of
entertainers since its conception. Hirsch was moved to help the
Foundation after watching a documentary about Bob’s injury. “I
always had something deep down in me to help the vets.” Hirsch
has also initiated Dine out for Heroes with restaurateur Penny
Glazier in which Manhattan restaurants donate a portion of their
nightly earnings to the BWF.
Across the country and locally, the Foundation has funded
several programs that benefit veterans in various ways. The
BWF invested in a collaborative endeavor between North
Shore–LIJ in Manhasset (Northwell Health) and the Military Child
Education Coalition (MCEC), which provided education training
for Long Island community leaders and experts to understand
their military neighbors as they reintegrate. Recent performances
of the Telling Project – a special event where local veterans
and military family members share their stories of service and
sacrifice–were supported by the BWF in Long Island towns
that included Brentwood, Shelter Island, Sag Harbor
and Southampton.
SELFLESS SERVICE
Today Lee Woodruff is the author of three books, volunteers 20 hours
a week at the BWF, manages her media coaching business, and is
working towards launching a new project to assist vets with fertility
treatments. Clearly she has yet to relinquish the role of “general.”
Referring to a favorite quote: “Being humble doesn’t mean you think
less of yourself, it means you think about yourself less,” Woodruff
adds, “That selflessness is what all our vets have in common.” LL
Karen M. Romanelli lives in Stony Brook and is a freelance writer and Development Manager at the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
PEOPLE WOULD JUST COME UPTO US, HAND US
$20 AND SAY PLEASE MAKE SURETHIS GETSTO
A SOLDIER.”
— LEE WOODRUFF
“

3. For more information about the Bob Woodruff Foundation and how you can help our nation’s wounded war veterans go to: Bobwoodrufffoundation.org
Bob and Lee Woodruff.
Photo credit: Stefan Radtke.