Don Dahler

Career

Dahler joined ABC News in September 1999 as a National Correspondent for Good Morning America. Since then, he has filed reports for all programs at ABC, including Nightline, Primetime, 20/20 Downtown, Good Morning America and World News Tonight. He has travelled to Kosovo for war coverage and to Afghanistan and Iraq for the same reason. He was embedded with the 101st Airborne during the initial invasion, and has returned for three other embeds with U.S. troops.

Dahler reported on the Columbine shootings in his native Colorado. On September 11th, 2001, Dahler was the first network correspondent on the scene of the attack on the World Trade Center, reporting live via telephone from his apartment just blocks away a few moments after the first plane hit the towers and later filing the first report of the South Tower's collapse mere seconds after it occurred. Two weeks later, he was one of the first American journalists travelling to Afghanistan before the U.S. began its bombing campaign against the Taliban. In 2002, he became one of the first journalists from this country, along with a team from Nightline, to successfully cross the Syrian border into northern Iraq prior to the Iraq War in more than a decade.

According to his biography, Dahler's first reporting gig was at WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina in 1982. He reported there for only three years. He got his start reporting as an unpaid intern for KENS-TV in San Antonio.

In 1997, Dahler was a correspondent for CNBC based out of Los Angeles. There, he filed reports on the sports and entertainment industries. Before CNBC and a brief stint at Fox News Channel as an investigative correspondent, Dahler was a producer for CBS news' 48 Hours. Prior to that, he made documentaries and wildlife films in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. During the 2001–02 television season, he was seen hosting Justice Files on the Discovery Channel.

Dahler joined CBS2 News on September 4, 2007 as weekend evening anchor. On May 27, 2008, the Daily News reported that the station had decided to give Don the co-anchorage for the 12Noon and 6:00PM newscasts, which will pair him up with veteran Dana Tyler; all of this just five days after two-time alum Jim Rosenfield was let go for the sake of budget cuts. Steve Bartelstein, whom Dahler auditioned to replace at WABC-TV after Bartelstein was fired, replaced Dahler as Mary Calvi's weekend evening co-anchor.

On September 8, 2011, it was announced that Dahler would move to weekends, to make room for Chris Wragge who is returning to the local station from a 9-month stint as co-host of CBS' The Early Show.

Personal life

Dahler was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to an Air Force family and grew up all over the United States. He attended MacArthur High School and San Antonio College. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Formerly married to NBC News' Sara James, Dahler currently resides with his wife and two children in the New York City area. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including an EMMY, a Peabody, a Dupont, and two CINEs.

He is the author of A Tight Lie a murder mystery, which was released by St. Martin's Press in March, 2009.