1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

NBC's Brian Williams recants story about being in a helicopter brought down in Iraq

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TopSpin, Feb 4, 2015.

  1. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    I don't think it'll happen either, but it certainly warrants serious consideration. I can't imagine making such a mistake. If you were in a chopper that was shot at, you'd remember it pretty vividly.
     
  2. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Agreed.
     
  3. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    I agree with the first two sentences of this, but maybe not the third. This is bad enough that NBC might be compelled to make a move.

    And it's beyond disappointing. I'm a fan of Williams -- have always loved his professionalism and thought of him as the consummate anchor.

    But he didn't misspeak, and he didn't misremember. He embellished and, by extension, yes, he lied. What's more, I think he knew he was doing it, every time he did it. He did "choose to make this mistake."
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2015
    bigpern23 likes this.
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Hillary Clinton was in the same helicopter.
     
    old_tony likes this.
  5. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I agree with you totally. I'm also a fan of Williams. He has a great mix of gravitas and humor (his segments with Jon Stewart are fantastic) and, until now, I trusted him to deliver a balanced, truthful newscast.
     
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Seems like Williams has a few versions of the story floating around. Here's one he told as part of a eulogy for Gen
    Wayne Downing:
    WP-ORG 3.0 Eulogy for Wayne Allan Downing -- USMA '62

    If I told the story of how Wayne got us into Iraq during the start of combat operations, he'd come back from the dead to kill me. On one particular occasion, he talked me into going on a "day trip" with an Army Reserve Unit -- a flotilla of four twin-rotor Chinook helicopters on a mission we couldn't discuss. Each chopper carried a heavy section of a military bridge, flying slowly and at only 100 feet above the desert terrain. We were headed to the Euphrates River. It was the bridge that, once assembled, would carry the Third Infantry Division north to Baghdad.


    Looking back at that day, I now like to say we encountered the first insurgents of the war. Wayne peered out of a plexiglass bubble window on board the chopper and was watching the terrain below as we flew. He said over the intercom system that it didn't "look good" to him on the ground. I now know what he meant: no U.S. forces had yet been where we were. This was un-patrolled territory. Not long after Wayne's warning, some men on the ground fired an RPG through the tail rotor of the chopper flying in front of ours. There was small arms fire. A chopper pilot took a bullet through the earlobe. All four choppers dropped their heavy loads and landed quickly and hard on the desert floor. Wayne never said aloud (to the young and relatively inexperienced crew) what we all knew to be true: he was the senior officer, by a long shot, retirement or not. He very soon took de facto control of our situation -- and when an American mechanized platoon came upon us, Wayne helped the young commander, a Captain and fellow West Pointer, set up a perimeter around those four big green birds, which at the time felt more like sitting ducks. Within hours an epic sandstorm later nicknamed "Orange Crush" moved in from the West with a gritty vengeance. We needed help and we needed fuel, and it quickly became apparent we weren't going anywhere for a while. The soldiers protecting us spotted two Iraqis approaching with an RPG on that first night, and killed them. Those days in the desert amounted to my first exposure to U.S. troops in this war. It was also my first exposure to Wayne Downing. I lived to tell the tale, and came away "indebted, impressed and in awe.
     
  7. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    I agree with every bit of this. But I'm not sure what NBC's stance will be. I don't want to think so, but I do believe this was intentional embellishment.
     
  8. Guy_Incognito

    Guy_Incognito Well-Known Member

    Was just about to ask why it's a capital crime for him, but she is likely to be our next president?
     
  9. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    Most of the accounts make it seem as if he was at least in the group that was attacked. If that were the case, it doesn't seem like that big of a mistaken memory. But ... was he only noticed an hour later, or did he arrive much later?

    NBC's Brian Williams Admits He Was Never On Helicopter Forced Down In Iraq
     
  10. TopSpin

    TopSpin Member

    Screw the apology. He is sorry he got caught after 12 years of spinning the tale.
     
    BDC99 likes this.
  11. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Because Williams only has one, or a very few voters?
     
  12. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    He should be fired.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page