I have a photo of my dad when he was getting one of his bronze stars (WWII) - his mom proudly displayed until the day my dad asked her to put it away at least when he was there. When I was old enough to hear it my mom told me that he always referred to that picture as "being congratulated for killing people" - and not in a proud way.

I've met very few veterans who like to talk about what happened in the midst of combat.