The stuff of heroes

What makes a hero? Is it simply doing what has to be done at the time? And are you more likely to do whatever that is if you think of yourself as part of a (or "the") team? Management-oriented journal, The Leadership Quarterly, went in search of an answer and quizzed over 500 World War II veterans, asking them to rate themselves on their leadership, loyalty, spontaneity and selflessness. All downplayed the term "heroism". "Every one of us was afraid" one is quoted as saying.
The study also made a distinction between heroes. Eager heroes enlisted; reluctant heroes were drafted (and were probably not the ones carrying out fragging cf a previous post). So what's the practical application? Apparently understanding the range of heroic qualities can be useful to people who recruit and train soldiers ... as well as firefighters and police - perhaps with the payoff being that you're more likely to end up with people who put the group first (? perhaps to their own detriment). As the article I read noted "A hand grenade falls on the floor and leads you to do something other than if you didn't know who these guys were and didn't have a commitment to them". (And if you're ever in that situation - and let's hope none of us ever is - remember that the Mythbusters have tested and support the hypothesis that the safest way to absorb the blast is to throw yourself - or, and they did not suggest this, someone else - on top of it!)