I think we should be proud of all of our WWII vets whatever they did. And all of the other wars. Infantrymen, tail gunners, radio operators, whatever, they put themselves in harm's way.
My dad was a Navy man, a Carpenter's Mate. How glamorous can it be, building cabinets on ships? Indeed, he was a Quaker and didn't really want to be a war hero, just doing a job at a nice little seaport in the Hawaiian Islands. But there was that one exciting day.
My dad was older, he was born in 1911 and was almost out of place among the younger guys at Pearl Harbor. My uncle (my mom's brother) lied about his age and joined the Navy in 1941 before he turned 18 or finished high school, that's him standing on the left side of the picture.