Werrell: Lying about brave deeds is a fool’s game
I have always liked watching Brian Williams read the news, and it’s unfortunate that he has turned out to be one of those guys who puffs himself up by telling fake war stories.
Williams apologized in Wednesday night’s NBC Evening News broadcast for re-telling a story about an incident that occurred 12 years ago involving a flight aboard a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter in Iraq. Williams reportedly has recounted publicly on several occasions that while traveling with an NBC news crew to the site of a story about Iraqis building a bridge, the helicopter he was in came under fire from a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire on the ground.
Williams claimed in some accounts to have been terrified during he incident. He said that his helicopter was forced to land immediately and that the news team was surrounded and protected by an armor platoon.
But Stars and Stripes, after interviewing crew members who were in the formation, pieced together a different story. Only the lead helicopter came under fire, and Williams wasn’t a passenger on that chopper.
In fact, Williams was in a helicopter that landed 30 minutes to an hour later. His Chinook took no fire and landed beside the damaged helicopter because of an impending sandstorm from the Iraqi desert, according to Stars and Stripes.
We may never know exactly what happened. It happened 12 years ago, and the details no doubt were murky even then.
But, with Williams’ apology, we know that he embellished his role and has repeatedly told the false story for years.
On one level, that’s sad. Williams has been a welcome presence on the nightly news, a good broadcaster and an affable personality. In other settings, such as Late Night With David Letterman, he has demonstrated a dry sense of humor as well.
Nonetheless, the lie needed to be revealed. And that raises the question, why did he do it?
Williams has been a successful TV journalist for years and now is at the peak of his profession. He has traveled the world and has been in hot spots, so no one would necessarily question his courage. Why would he risk telling a tall tale that eventually could be disputed by reliable people who were there?
Hillary Clinton got caught doing the same thing. When running for president in 2008, she talked about landing aboard a plane in Tuzla, Bosnia, in 1996 and having to dash for cover when the entourage suddenly came under sniper fire.
But it didn’t happen. Footage of the event was unearthed showing her casually disembarking from the plane to greet an 8-year-old girl who had written her a welcoming poem – no snipers, no mad dash for cover.
Again, why would someone with as many rich, interesting stories to tell about herself as Clinton make something up about being shot at? Knowing that there was video of the event!
Combat envy is a common malady. The FBI has identified more than 100 people who have falsely claimed to have won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Some of them use the ruse as part of a scheme to con people. But some do it just to try to make themselves appear more interesting, to enhance their standing in the community, to beef up a dull life.
While it takes considerable chutzpah to pose as a Medal of Honor winner, there undoubtedly are thousands of other imposters who claim to have won other medals, many of whom were never in the service at all.
Some might claim that all of us dissemble about our lives at one time or another, that everyone has exaggerated something about his or her life to appear more fascinating, more heroic, more experienced. The need to have people notice us is too compelling not to.
But there are those who do just the opposite, who play down heroic deeds, who don’t talk about their achievements at all. There are Medal of Honor winners who keep it a secret, never revealing the fact to their community or even close friends.
In other words, real heroes.
Williams’ career probably will survive this incident. But his credibility is diminished, which is particularly damaging for a newsman.
Moral: Don’t lie, especially when there’s nothing on the line. And in Williams’ case, I suspect he’ll regret it the rest of his life.
This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Werrell: Lying about brave deeds is a fool’s game."