But there\u2019s something else. When you watch these clips there\u2019s a troubling ambiguity to them now. One frame around them is: Williams pays tribute to the troops who fought the war and protected him in the desert. He does a lot to make that message explicit, and this part of the performance requires expressions of humility. I\u2019m no solider, I\u2019m no war correspondent, I had no business being there, I\u2019m so grateful for these brave men and women.<\/p>\n
When you watch it now, though, you may wonder: Why does this story keep coming up? How is it getting in front of audiences repeatedly over the years?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take the Lettermen appearance in 2013. Did the show\u2019s producers say, \u201cHey, it\u2019s the tenth anniversary of Brian almost getting shot out of the sky in the helicopter, let\u2019s have him on\u201d\u00a6\u201d\u009d? Seems unlikely. Letterman says in the clip he either forgot or never knew about the episode. More likely: Williams wanted to talk about it, so they programmed it in. That\u2019s not so modest.<\/p>\n
Why is Madison Square Garden halting a hockey game and directing the attention of fans to Brian Williams and his military buddy being \u201creunited?\u201d\u009d Because they knew about this story and thought it would be nice to revisit it 12 years later? Or because NBC promotion people alerted them and asked for the story to be re-told over the PA system?<\/p>\n