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Anchor Brian Williams Recants Iraq Story After Protests From Soldiers

DETROIT (CBS DETROIT/AP ) - Brian William the nightly news anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News has recanted a story in which he said he was on a helicopter that was forced down in 2003 in Iraq.

Stars and Stripes reporter Travis Tritten says that Williams was not aboard a helicopter hit and forced down by RPG fire during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a false claim that has been repeated by the network for years.

Williams arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter after the other three had made an emergency landing, the crew members said to Stars and Stripes.

In a Facebook response to service members who had pointed out the mistake, Williams said that "I spent much of the weekend thinking I'd gone crazy."

NBC noted that a "Dateline NBC" story in 2003 correctly reported that Williams learned after his helicopter had landed that "the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky." Williams said he also wrote about the incident correctly in 2008.

"Because I have no desire to fictionalize my experience ... and no need to dramatize events as they actually happened, I think the constant viewing of the video showing us inspecting the impact area - and the fog of memory over the years - made me conflate the two," Williams wrote.

"Nobody's trying to steal anyone's valor," he wrote.

Williams' helicopter and others, including the one that was hit, were grounded for three days as they waited for a sandstorm to subside.

Williams has anchored NBC's "Nightly News" since 2004, and his program consistently draws a bigger audience than his competitors, David Muir on ABC's "World News Tonight" and Scott Pelley on the "CBS Evening News."

"I would not have chosen to make this mistake," Williams said. "I don't know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another."

 

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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