On Wednesday night, NBC news anchor Brian Williams admitted he was not aboard a helicopter forced down by a rocket-propelled grenade during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a false story that has been repeated for years, reports NPR.

Williams told his Nightly News audience that the false claim was part of a "bungled attempt" to thank soldiers who protected him in Iraq at that time.

"I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago," Williams said. "I want to apologize."

The reaction to Williams' revelation has been severe on social media with many people, including professional journalists, calling him an outright liar.

The apology stemmed from a newscast last week in which Williams praised the soldiers who helped save his life when, as the anchor said, "the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG." The story during that newscast focused on U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Tim Terpak, who Williams claimed protected him and his colleagues in the Iraqi desert.

The two-minute segment features about 20 minutes of actual news. The footage, watched by millions of viewers, showed clips from 2003 and the professional hockey game that Williams took Terpak to last week.

Williams has told the story with a dramatic flair many times since 2003. He talked about his experience in the helicopter when he spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2005, according to the Los Angeles Times. He also shared his experience on David Letterman's "Late Show" two years ago.

The anchor's story last week outraged soldiers who posted comments on NBC Nightly News' Facebook page contradicting his tale. Soldiers aboard the formation of 159th Aviation Regiment Chinooks told the military newspaper Stars and Stripes that Williams had arrived an hour after the Chinook helicopter and two others were forced down by enemy fire.