Simply put: you can read anyone's medal description from the last ten years and change out the names, and it'll read exactly the same.
Sometimes you're in the right place at the the right time to get some of the glory light, but in the end it doesn't really matter.
The only thing that matters is if you can stand tall in front of your bros at the bar and tell your story to include all the warts (you know you fucked things up) and say you did the best you could, and drink to those that didn't make it.