I started high school in 1966. Soon after attending my first few days of class I was stunned to discover that my 8th grade math and mechanical drawing teacher, Lt Col H. E. Crouch, has been the bomb/nav on Plane No.10 of the Doolittle Raid. I could not believe it!
The reaction of the rest of the students was "Huh?" But they soon figured it out and he put on a presentation in one school assembly about his experiences.
Not long following my own retirement after serving 25 years in the USAF I found that Lt Col Crouch was in a rest home and wrote him a letter telling him how much I appreciated his service as an military officer and as teacher and summarizing my own. He wrote me back saying that he was amazed at my own career.
And shortly after arriving at my last Air Force assignment in 1993 I discovered that my next door neighbor, Willard Smith, had flown B-25's in the Med in WWII and that his squadron commander was Ted Lawson's (Author of 30 Sec Over Tokyo) co-pilot.
You never know who the heros are that live next door - unless you talk to them.