(Bloomberg) -- NBC News anchor Brian Williams apologized on the air for incorrectly saying last week that a helicopter he was traveling in during the Iraq War in 2003 was forced down after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

“I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago,” Williams said on the telecast, which aired Wednesday in the U.S. and can be seen at the network’s website. “I want to apologize.”

In a story covered on the “NBC Nightly News” last week, Williams took Sergeant Major Tim Terpak, who retired with three bronze stars, to a hockey game at Madison Square Garden where the veteran received a standing ovation. During the piece, Williams said his helicopter was hit by an RPG.

The aircraft Williams and his team were in were following helicopters that came under fire, NBC and Williams reported in correcting the original story. Terpak led a unit that protected the newsman and his team while they were stranded in the desert.

“This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not,” Williams said. “I hope they know they have my greatest respect and also now my apology.”

NBC, part of Comcast Corp., didn’t respond to requests for comment. The network’s nightly newscast is the most watched among the major broadcasters, with an average daily audience of 8.95 million viewers during the current TV season, according to Nielsen data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net Brendan Scott, Young-Sam Cho