NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has apologized for falsely claiming he was on a helicopter hit and forced down by fire from a rocket-propelled grenade during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Soldiers from the helicopter which was hit had publicly challenged Williams’ account, saying he was actually nowhere near the aircraft that came under fire. One posted, “Sorry dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft. I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened.” Williams apologized on his show Wednesday night.

Brian Williams: “I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft. We all landed after the ground fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraq desert. This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and, by extension, our brave military men and women, veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not. I hope they know they have my greatest respect, and also now my apology.”

Williams blamed the “fog of memory” for causing him to misremember the event. But he has made the claims before, including during an interview with David Letterman in 2013. Two days after the 2003 attack, Williams described it differently, saying, “the Chinook [helicopter] ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky.” But NBC archives show a clip from that day titled “Target Iraq: Helicopter NBC’s Brian Williams Was Riding In Comes Under Fire.”