NBC “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams said Wednesday he was sorry for “making a mistake” when he said he was on a helicopter that was hit and forced down by rocket fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, after soldiers complained it was not true.

    Williams made the claim on his broadcast last Friday while reporting a tribute at a New York Rangers hockey game for a retired soldier who provided ground security during the incident. Williams said he and his news crew were protected by a mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry after their Chinook helicopter was crippled by enemy fire.

    That prompted crew members on the 159th Aviation Regiment’s Chinook that was hit by two rockets and small arms fire to tell the Stars and Stripes military newspaper that the journalist had arrived on a different helicopter an hour later.

    In a statement responding to the soldiers, Williams said they were absolutely right and he was wrong.(SD-Agencies)