Sometimes AD patients think they have done something they've only heard about or that someone else has done.

Right,myrtle. And as I understand it, he had journal notes. One would think he would have consulted those at some time. . . Sounds like it was a case of unchecked-ego.

Charlotte, I think it's because the other people did not have access to a source that was interested in airing their story, plus they had other things to do (like fighting a war). What I gleaned from a New York Times article on Feb 5 was that witnesses say that Williams’ helicopter was not part of the convoy of helicopters that came under fire; it was at least 30 minutes behind the helicopter that was fired upon.

Here is what William said about the incident:

– In 2003, Williams said "the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky.” Joe Summerlin, who was on the helicopter that was forced down, said that he went looking for reporters on their base in Kuwait to tell them that was not accurate but ended up leaving notes about it in some news vans.

– In 2013, Williams told David Letterman that he had actually been on the helicopter that got shot down, adding that a crew member had been injured and received a medal. “We figured out how to land safely,” he said, “we landed very quickly and hard. We were . . . north out ahead of the other Americans.” Christopher Simeone, a pilot on Williams’s helicopter, saw the Letterman show and was angry about it but apparently did not (or was not able to) say anything to any media source.

– On the “Nightly News” last week, as part of a tribute to a veteran, Williams described a moment “when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit." After that, some veterans took to Facebook to complain, and a reporter at the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, picked up the thread.

– Thursday, in his apology, Williams said that he had been on a different helicopter, behind the one that had sustained fire, and that he had mistakenly “conflated” the two.

I don't think he has dementia. He made a major mistake in journalism, he relied on his memory. Memories are often unreliable. He should have taken notes and referred to them before speaking up. Or if he had notes he should have referred to them.

A friend of mine made a good connection with this episode and doctors. We need written instructions after seeing a doctor and not be asked to remember stuff. I've been going through PT and my therapist takes a video of new things I am to do (and there are a lot of them) on my iPad. She prints out instructions for various exercises (they seem to have a system that allows them to pick just the exercises I need) and then writes notes on the instructions for any changes.

Now it can be something else. But memory is unreliable.

My problem with this situation is that Brian Williams is an entertainer, albeit one who delivers the news. As with all entertainers and mega sports figures, they lose checks and balances and need "handlers." I have no idea how much feedback handlers give their "stars," but everyone, no matter how important or glamorous, needs someone who is keeping them grounded. And keeping anyone grounded is not the same as stoking the ego.

It was said that the people at NBC knew that Brian Williams had falsified the account for years. Yet no one (??) challenged him on it and got him to amend it? Was that because they feared his power and retaliation? This, IMO, is the heart of the matter, not just with BW, but with all prominent public figures: checks and balances from other people, accountability, humility and the ability to admit a problem and correct it.

I read somewhere that most CEOs are sociopaths to a certain extent. The point being that those people are successful precisely because success in the business world is linked to a slightly sociopathic personality. They have to believe in themselves and be able to make objective decisions that may hurt individuals (fire them, eliminate their jobs) without undue guilt. Not good or bad. Just true. Such power, without conscience, can be corrupting as we have seen too many times.

BW always came across to me as a bit condescending and perhaps that is because he considered himself a cut above. He wasn't a Walter Cronkite. He made the rounds of the late night talk shows along with all of the other beautiful and wacky stars. Perhaps he came to believe that his success in reporting granted him immunity (in that peculiarly Hollywood way) from the social mores by which the rest of us live.

Or maybe he just reported on too many stories of power, corruption and lying on a daily basis and over time unconsciously adopted that life style. And this is why House of Cards is both entertaining and terrifying.

I hope BW does some serious soul searching and removes himself from the public light to contemplate. He needs to see himself and the truth clearly. Perhaps truth, humility, and gritty survivorship are the rewards for those of us traveling through DementiaWorld. We are facing an ugly truth day in and day out that forces us to look inside ourselves and reach deep inside ourselves in order to do what is right for our spouses and still come out of this alive. Perhaps BW would benefit from walking a mile in our shoes. I will gladly loan him mine.

I think he was all about self promotion. If and until he has any kind of DX I would not give him this as an excuse.

None are so repentant as those who get caught.

I thought I should mention that while we have been talking about Brian Williams and his fictitious exploits, another well-known journalist has died. Bob Simon, who died in a car crash at age 73, most recently worked for "60 Minutes" but before that, he had an extraordinary career as a foreign correspondent. He covered the Vietnam War and was on one of the last helicopters to leave Saigon in April 1975. (I will never forget watching the news footage of those helicopters lifting off the roof of the U.S. Embassy with people trying to hang onto them.) Later, he covered the Middle East and was even imprisoned in Iraq for a month or so during the Gulf War.

My point is that Bob Simon was what Brian Williams aspired to be. He was the real thing.

From the NY Times international weekly Valentines Day:

"There's something sad in the need of NBC's Brian Williams to puff up his Iraq adventures and something barbaric in the public response. The sad part is no matter how high you go in life and no matter how many accolades you win, it's never enough."

In my mind the barbaric part is we don't villify Ronald Reagan or Hillary Clinton who both misremembered about the war and about sniper fire. We do however to someone who reads a teleprompter for a living. On a lighter note I see that Jon Stewart announced he's quitting his fake news job and suggested the perfect replacement.