Thank you for your honest account of how it feels to be called to duty in what could well be a life and death scenario. Forget the hero or not argument, I would just like to call our real courage for what it is. True courage is having all these fears, being willing to own them and talk about them, yet doing what you have to do despite them. That is courage as I know it.

The more we talk about the kinds of things you’re Going through, the more the next person can know that this is what one really goes through in real life situations like this. We are not comic book superheroes — we’re real people with real fears and doubts. We suit up and show up despite our fears, usually with little to no fan fare. I tip my hat to you, and most sincerely thank you for your service.