Do I ever know the feeling! Spent years behind a crypto vault "green door" feeling like a mushroom while my buddies from home were (I thought) fat-catting on their ME and EE degrees.
It turned out, I found out years later and to my embarassment, that my buddy with the ME degree was flying F-4 Phantoms for the Navy in VN, and my best bud, the guy with the EE was an O-3 in Special Forces and completed 2 full tours in VN.
Sitting on a missile site or sitting behind the green door or in a base comm center in the '60s - '70s was not much glory and no ribbons. But hey, it had to be done. You, Eote48, me, and millions of others stood the watch! Most of us would give more if asked. And all of us have much to be proud of!
Me cache en los Moros!
I was at RAF Mildenhall when the Berlin Wall came down. You have much to be proud of.