KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two worlds for Courtney Kube collided unexpectedly during a live shot inside a Washington, D.C. television studio.
“I had to be at work that morning, at 5 o'clock in the morning. My husband was out of town daycare wasn't open,” said Kube.
The dedicated mom and veteran war reporter won admiration, sympathy, and smiles from people around the world when one of her twin boys made a surprise appearance on camera. The NBC News correspondent was in the middle of offering perspective on Turkish air strikes in Syria when her son popped up looking for his mom. Empathetic viewers included a general she would meet months later in a remote region of Iraq.
“He says to me, 'I Googled your name, and I saw a video of your son come on camera with you.' So, I was literally in the middle of nowhere in Iraq. And that was how I bonded with this Peshmerga general,” said Kube.
In her more than two decades at NBC News, Kube says she has made more than three dozen trips to Afghanistan and reported from Iraq, Syria, Libya, and other conflict regions around the world.
"Some of my very favorite stories that I've ever worked on in more than 20 years at NBC have been about Medal of Honor recipients," said Kube.
Only 65 recipients of the military's highest award for valor are alive today. Of the more than 41 million people who have served this nation, only 3,515 veterans have received the Medal of Honor.
In recognition of her “unbiased coverage of the United States Military through peace and war,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society is honoring Kube with the “Tex” McCrary Award.
“I'm so floored and humbled to even be a part of this,” said Kube who is receiving that award from recipients of the military’s highest award for valor — The Medal of Honor.
The presentation will happen at the annual gathering for the U.S.'s most exclusive group of warriors, set for early September 2022 and returning for a second time to Knoxville.
“The fact that someone would recognize the work that I'm doing, and that so many of my colleagues are doing, I'm just absolutely honored by it,” said Kube.
Past recipients of that award include Bernard Shaw, Tom Brokaw, Paul Harvey, and Martha Raddatz.