From the 1973 Yom Kippur War to the Iranian hostage crisis to the Palestinian intifada, Martin Fletcher, NBC News bureau chief and correspondent has seen up close more conflicts and hardships in his 35 years as a news broadcaster than most people will ever experience in 10 lifetimes. Stationed in Tel Aviv, Israel, the five-time Emmy award-winning bureau chief and correspondent has been in the middle of some of the most harrowing events of the past thirty-five years, bringing the news of the day to the households of America.

Here’s an excerpt from a 2006 interview with him about war correspondents:

How do you explain your journalistic duty to your family/loved ones who might urge you not to go?
In 30 years my wife has only asked me once not to go somewhere and that is Iraq because I’m Jewish, married to an Israeli etc. She’s never asked me before, so when NBC asked me to go to Iraq I said no, the first time ever. So I don’t need to explain to my family. They understand that this is my job and I love it and they trust me. And when I told my mother not to worry because when I go to work I wear a flak jacket and a helmet, she answered, “Martin, if you have to wear a flak jacket and helmet to go to work, you should get a new job!”

You didn’t ask this, but this is what I strongly believe. Staying safe in a war zone has nothing to do with experience, it’s just dumb luck. Two friends of mine, the most experienced war correspondents imaginable, both died in silly incidents after a career of coverage (Neil Davis and Mohammed Amin). So these days I just try to narrow the odds by only doing what is really necessary. I feel that after taking risks for so long, the odds are against me. So I’m careful!

Here’s recent footage of Fletcher in Rwanda. His new book, Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous Places in the World, will be released on March 4 and that night he will speaking about his experiences and current events with Joseph Berger of the New York Times at the Y.