No, no, I know.

( he puts his hand atop hers and squeezes gently. )

You weren't bein' an asshole. I'd tell you plain if that's how I took it. It's just, part of what soldierin' means to me, an' it ain't your fault for not knowin'.

( he might call it survivor's guilt if he had cause to know the term. an' it is, really. you live when your buddy dies. someone gets shot or shelled or throws themselves on a goddamn grenade — )

But I know what I did in the war, an' I'm at peace with the differences I made. I don't need to take more credit than's my due.