Brian Williams Broke Veterans’ First Rule—and Now He’s Paying for It

‘In the S--t’ Cred

Here’s what you can never do with a war story: try to make it seem like you were in greater danger to make yourself look cool. The NBC anchor is under fire for doing just that.

Published Feb. 5 2015 11:51PM EST

There are rules for telling war stories: You can’t pretend to be braver, cooler, or in greater danger than you really were. People exaggerate all the time in everyday life, but with war stories, where the bigger questions are so hard to resolve, the details are everything.

Jacob Siegel

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Brian Williams Broke Veterans’ First Rule—and Now He’s Paying for It

Here’s what you can never do with a war story: try to make it seem like you were in greater danger to make yourself look cool. The NBC anchor is under fire for doing just that.

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Jacob Siegel