On Monday, President Barack Obama presented retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kettles with the most prestigious military honor in all the land — the Medal of Honor. According to the White House, the former Huey pilot and Vietnam War veteran received it for “conspicuous gallantry.”

Allow the selfless Kettles to explain how he wasn’t alone in the mission that ultimately earned him the highest recognition of American valor.

“There were some 74 pilots and crew members involved in this whole mission that day,” he says. “So it’s not just me, I’m just leading the pack. Making the decisions. Which, some may not have liked them, I don’t know. But those behind me were obliged to follow. And they did. They did their job above and beyond.

“So the medal is not mine. It’s theirs.”

If you’d like to read his story in full, check out the piece we did on the Michigan native a few weeks back here.

And now, without further ado, here’s the hero being honored at the White House. It features some lasting images, and even a Rambo reference from the commander-in-chief: