There are some moments in life I will never misremember: The joy of seeing my newborn son for the first time. The sweet excitement of my first kiss. Or, the terror I felt on September 11, 2001, as I wandered the streets of New York with my 7-year-old son, trying to protect him from the horror all around us as we and millions of others walked for miles to safety.
Joy and pain, those memories are locked in my mind, and barring any onset of dementia, the details of those experiences will never fade. Most of us are wired this way, and that is why much of America, including myself, is having a hard time understanding how NBC news anchor Brian Williams could possibly have “misremembered” whether he was actually aboard a Chinook helicopter forced down by rocket fire during the Iraq invasion in 2003. Especially when there were multiple witnesses around to remind him of the truth of what happened that day.
Instead, Williams inserted himself into the story. He made himself the hero and for that he should be held accountable. Since that day in Iraq, Williams has retold the dramatic story of how he survived the terrifying experience, while reporting on the war. It was a classic tale of the unselfish, intrepid newsman, risking his life to bring America a close-up glimpse at the horrors of war. But after finally being called out earlier this week by the real heroes of that day who risked their lives, Williams now has a different recollection: He was not on that plane, but on another one that landed later.
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