" They were learning about others. A common experience: the guy who talked toughest, bragged most, excelled in maneuvers, everyone’s pick to be the top soldier in the company, was the first to break, while the soft-talking kid who was hardly noticed in camp was the standout in combat. These are the clichés of war novels precisely because they are true. They "

― Stephen E. Ambrose , Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany