The question on the lips of each roaster, as well as many audience members, was: How to roast a man who got hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq, nearly died and still has a synthetic plate in his head?

Very timidly. Author Bob Woodward, apart from joking about their similar names, stuck mainly to reading from the book Woodruff wrote with his wife, Lee.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Marine Lt. Gen. John Sadler poked more fun at themselves and the military than at Woodruff.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., got into the spirit a bit, joking that after the attack in Iraq, Woodruff could barely say anything. The only thing he could say was ‘book deal.’ ”

“The good news is that the doctors saved your life with a plastic plate,” he continued. “The bad news was its made in China.”

The real body blows were delivered by Woodruff’s wife who called the performances by the other roasters “weak.”

“This is the guy who stood up in the tank,” she said in mock exasperation. “How stupid is that?” She added that he still leaves his underwear on the floor, just like he did before his injury.

Not present at the event: Radioactive deejay Don Imus, whose last appearance as a roaster was last year, for Bob Schieffer. (He himself was roasted in 1999.)

Not bidded on: A baseball autographed by Hillary Clinton. The opening price was $895.