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Leisher 
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Posted on: Feb. 04 2015,20:16 |
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lied about coming under fire in Iraq.
They post his apology in full, and it seems fine.
However, keep reading the article and see how far he took the lie. I'm not sure that apology was enough. It seems like he glossed over most of the bullshit he was spewing.
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| Post Number: 2
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TPRJones
I saw The Fault in our Stars opening night.
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Posted on: Feb. 04 2015,20:49 |
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He probably honestly remembered it that way. Â He wasn't trained for combat and memory is almost never a reliable thing in stressed situations without careful preparation.
It's why eye witness testimony is often crap.
Edited by TPRJones on Feb. 04 2015,20:49
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Vidi Perfutui Veni
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| Post Number: 3
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Leisher
Top 3%, yo.
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Posted on: Feb. 04 2015,21:57 |
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His helicopter came along an hour later...
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Vince
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,03:32 |
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I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this. Scared shitless in a combat zone, more than likely with his sleep pattern screwed up because of the trip over there. I could maybe see something getting jumbled in his head like that. I have enough doubt that it's intentional to give him a pass this time.
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| Post Number: 5
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TheCatt
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,05:52 |
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I can forgive Brian, after all, he helped give us this
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| Post Number: 6
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Leisher
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:06 |
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I completely disagree with you guys.
His helicopter came along the same route an hour later. He had nothing to do with the wounded copter that was shot, but never crashed.
He didn't crash land. He wasn't protected on the ground until help could arrive. All horseshit.
This isn't Morton Downey Jr. lying about a visit to the troops. This is a journalist reporting a lie as if it actually occurred. I don't understand why you're giving him a pass? Because he can occasionally make a joke?
What he's doing is along the lines of stolen valor.
I'm not saying he can't be forgiven, but I think that apology sucks.
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| Post Number: 7
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TheCatt
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:10 |
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I can see your point of view. I don't disagree, I think it's completely legit for you to feel that way. I just feel differently.
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| Post Number: 8
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Vince
I make sweet, sweet love to my legally licenced copy of Microsoft Vista.
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:29 |
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I'm kind of with Catt. Â I don't think you're wrong for not believing his story. Â I wouldn't even go as far as to say that *I* believe him. Â But I can't say that I am confident that he's lying, either (I don't care about any jokes or appearances on late night TV shows that I don't watch). Â The brain is a strange thing.
I remember reading a story about a writer that believed for years that a movie he'd watched at the theater as a young teenager was filmed in his home town. Â He "remembered" seeing the cast and crew about town when they weren't filming. Â He'd told stories about it for years. Â He eventually mentioned it in a conversation with a family member and they looked at him like he was crazy and broke the news to him that no movie was ever filmed in their home town. Â He was so convinced of his false memories that he had to go research where the movie actually had been filmed.
So I don't know. Â It obviously didn't happen to him. Â Did he intentionally lie? Â Or did a combination of things he'd seen and felt and lack of sleep cross his wiring and make him really believe it happened to him? Â I don't feel like this is the sort of intentional behavior that would be a one-off. Â If other stories start to emerge showing he has a pattern of this sort of thing, I'll revise my opinion, I'm sure.
Edited by Vince on Feb. 05 2015,06:31
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| Post Number: 9
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GORDON
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:32 |
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Eh, whatever his reason, he's been caught and his career will always have this embarrassment attached to it. Nothing I can add to it. It isn't like I ever consumed his product anyway, so it isn't like I can boycott it.
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| Post Number: 10
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| Post Number: 11
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Vince
I make sweet, sweet love to my legally licenced copy of Microsoft Vista.
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:49 |
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That may be part of why I'm not too worked up about it as well. Not only do I not watch, he's just not much of a driving force on the news cycle or opinions. Anchors are mostly talking heads. They aren't much in control of the agenda of what's presented.
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| Post Number: 12
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TheCatt
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,06:51 |
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False memories are plantable.
I've known a lot of people who've truly believed things that are not true. For instance, about 12 years ago, I was in a creative writing group. I came up with a phrase, inspired by another friend of mine, and used it in one of my stories. One of the other people in the group loved it. Fast forward several years, and on her Facebook profile, she has the quote, attributed to herself. I don't think she's lying, I think she genuinely believes she came up with it.
Maybe Brian knew at the time, maybe things got confused, maybe he started with a little lie then believed it. Who knows? I'm glad he came out and apologized, instead of lying and denying.
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| Post Number: 13
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Leisher
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,07:08 |
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QUOTE Reynolds told the newspaper that Williams and the NBC cameramen arrived in a helicopter 30 to 60 minutes after his damaged Chinook made a rolling landing at an Iraqi airfield and skidded off the runway into the desert.
Funny how every time that article gets updated that little factoid keeps getting moved farther and farther towards the bottom.
(Also, the original article specifically said 60.)
Some funny tweets and memes about Williams' story.
If he was in that convoy, I'd be ok with his brain mashing him into that copter. I'd wonder about the RPG grazing someone's head, the soldier that defended Williams with his life, the crash landing, and then the hot crash site defended by more soldiers until reinforcements arrived...but...you know...
However, he landed 30-60 minutes later and had nothing to do with that copter. A fact HE REPORTED on his show March 26, 2003!!!!
And how convenient that his brain wiped its fog clean the moment someone called him on the lie. It's like how Hollywood portrays amnesia.
Personally, I think he never intended it to get this far, but someone put him into that chopper and he ran with it. He continued adding to the story.
And despite none of us watching him, this IS a big deal.
He might only be the public face of the news, but he wields a lot of power in that role. We've seen other folks use this role to try and manipulate the news to fit their own agenda, like Dan Rather.
We always shit all over the MSM for lying, for stretching truths, for twisting stories to fit narratives they want to tell, so why would this not be a big deal?
And again, I've really got no issue with the actual lie. I think he wasn't stealing valor, so much as just trying to get some of its smell on him. I think my issue is with how shitty his apology is and how it reeks of an attempt to deflect blame.
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| Post Number: 14
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Vince
I make sweet, sweet love to my legally licenced copy of Microsoft Vista.
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,08:38 |
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The more I read the more I wonder how this story went on as long as it did. Â Even if I give Williams the benefit of doubt, did no one else in his crew that was there say, "Umm... I think you might be having a memory issue on this."
And why did the other military respond only now?
Just really weird all the way round.
Edited by Vince on Feb. 05 2015,08:38
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| Post Number: 15
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Leisher
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,10:54 |
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See, I think that's an important question. Why did so many people allow this guy to lie, intentional or not, for so long?
Were they mocking him? Was it fear? Did NBC help push this story for ratings? Or was it apathy?
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| Post Number: 16
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Vince
I make sweet, sweet love to my legally licenced copy of Microsoft Vista.
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,11:21 |
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On the up side, apparently not a lot of people pay much attention to the MSM if it took this long for someone in the military that was there to hear about it.
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| Post Number: 17
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TheCatt
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,16:52 |
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The story gets more confusing
QUOTE Rich Krell, who was piloting the Chinook that Williams was on, tells a different story than the crew members who spoke to Stars and Stripes.
"Some of things he's said are not true. But some of the things they're saying against him are not true either," said Krell, who spoke exclusively to CNN on Thursday morning.
Krell explained that, contrary to Williams' comments in the past, there were three helicopters flying in close formation, not four.
"One of the birds broke down, so we were a flight of three," Krell said. "We were hauling metal bridges."
Williams was in the back of Krell's aircraft along with three other NBC staffers. Krell referred to his Chinook as the "second bird" in the formation. The "first bird," right in front of the "second bird," was struck by the RPG.
Due to his seat in the back, Williams was most likely unable to witness the RPG attack, Krell said.
All three of the helicopters were hit by small arms fire, Krell said, supporting Williams' past claims about that.
"The bridge expansions we were hauling took most of the hits," Krell said.
The three Chinooks took evasive maneuvers. Krell's helicopter dropped off its payload, then met up with the other two about 45 minutes later. That may explain why the other crew members told Stars and Stripes that Williams arrived in the area later.
Krell said of Williams, "Yeah, he messed up some things and said some things he shouldn't have. I [first] heard it a few years ago. ... Actually one of my flight engineers said, 'Did you hear him say that? Wasn't he on our bird?'"
Krell didn't seem overly bothered by Williams' revisionist history -- he chalked it up to wartime theatrics. "After a while, with combat stories, you just go 'Whatever,'" he said.
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| Post Number: 18
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TPRJones
I saw The Fault in our Stars opening night.
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,17:07 |
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That makes more sense. It explains some of Williams' confused memories better. And I'll trust the helo pilot above the rest of the witnesses because he's trained to deal with in-air emergencies so is most likely to remember what happened more clearly than any of the passengers, military or not.
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| Post Number: 19
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Leisher
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Posted on: Feb. 05 2015,18:46 |
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I agree that the pilot's account would make Williams' apology far more fitting and I'd forgive him for his mistake.
I still think it's a bit light considering how he embellished it, but I'll allow him that with the belief that he did so to score tail.
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| Post Number: 20
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TheCatt
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Posted on: Feb. 08 2015,08:04 |
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