Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue. — Chester Nimitz

My Take – It strikes me every time I go to Fort Knox to help with training:  Where do we find such people?  From the most high-speed, low drag special operator to the guy who’s learning to drive a truck in a convoy, they’re all trying to learn how to do a mission that most people can’t even describe.  Guys who ride a helicopter roller coaster into a raid are, to me, no more brave than the young lady who drives a route that’s been bombed repeatedly or the guy who stands up in front of an Afghan army unit to train them the day after another instructor was murdered by a student.

Maybe they only joined up for the money, or the college fund, or to just get away, but they all display more guts than a lot of the people they grew up with.  Almost all of them get embarrassed when they’re called out for being brave, but that doesn’t diminish the fact they have earned the title.