At the expense of seeming idealistic and naive I re-enlisted after a 16-year break in service because I missed the caliber of people you meet in the military. They don't see themselves as heroes and I don't see myself as a hero but damned if I haven't come to admire so many.
Whatever virtues I took with me in to my civilian life I learned from my service. Surpringly or not those life lessons got me promoted at every job in short order. What I thought was mundane to-be-expected behavior was an ethic that is apparently in short supply. I wasn't a hero, I was just doing what I could to emulate those I knew were better than me. Apparenty right-place, right-time, right-uniform doing the right thing was the minimum you could get away with in the Army but it proved to be absolutely extra-ordinary to civilian employers. I learned from those we'd best call heroes.
I'm not a hero.
But I've gotten to stand next to plenty.