Sgt. Dan Cowart stood at attention against a brisk wind Thursday afternoon as members of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, stood by to honor him.

It was a doubly special day for Cowart, who has spent the last several months in physical therapy and rehabilitation at Fort Sam Houston’s Brooke Army Medical Center.

It was the day that Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks pinned the Silver Star medal on Cowart’s chest, and it was the day Cowart would celebrate the birthday of his 3-year-old twin daughters, Avalon and Alyssa.

When soldiers receive medals, the word “hero” is often used to describe the recipient of the award.

Even if the title itself was warranted, Cowart wouldn’t have it.

“My heroes are my wife and my dad,” Cowart said. “I was just doing what a soldier in the Army is supposed to do. Any kind of recognition above a pat on the back, I think is too much.”

Cowart got his medal because of what happened May 13, 2007, in the Salah Ah Din Province in Iraq.

According to the citation read by Cowart’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Kevin Dunlop, Cowart and his combat team were on patrol when they stopped to conduct a traffic checkpoint.

Dunlop said that intelligence reports identified a white sedan that was planting improvised explosive devices in the area.

Cowart and his team, led by 1st Lt. Andrew Bachevich, saw a car matching the description and confronted the men inside. According to the citation, attempts to coerce the occupants out, even through the use of an interpreter, failed.

Believing the men in the car were a threat, Bachevich got out of his vehicle with Cowart and another soldier, who provided cover.

The suspicious men burst from the vehicle, with one of them pulling out an AK-47 assault rifle and firing a short burst at Bachevich. The driver also jumped from the car and was tackled by Cowart.

During the melee, Cowart discovered the driver was wearing a vest laden with explosives.

Cowart fought the driver, but was unable to keep the vest from detonating.

Cowart lost his left leg. Bachevich did not survive.

Afterward, soldiers found a cache of weapons that included rifles, ammunition, grenades and jihadist literature inside the car.

As Dunlop read the citation, Cowart’s parents, Clifford and Teresa Cowart of Beaumont, and Cowart’s wife, Sarah, listened.

Brooks, who grew up as an Army brat, said he’d often wondered what a hero looked like.

“A hero is usually someone who says, ‘I’m not a hero.’ A hero looks like any other soldier and a hero looks like someone who took action when action was needed, not because they get presented with a Silver Star, and certainly not because they might get injured,” Brooks said. “But because it was the thing to do at the time.”

With the regiment at attention, Brooks pinned the medal to Cowart’s uniform and shook his hand.

Afterward, his mother, Teresa, said she was proud of her son and proud the Army would honor him in this way.

“This is the first time I’ve heard everything he did,” she said, choking back tears. “I knew he’d put it all on the line. I knew he would and to see this does a mother’s heart good.”

Cowart shook the hand of every soldier in the regiment as his family stood nearby.

Most told him how proud they were of him and that he’d inspired them.

“I don’t really feel myself as the inspiring type,” Cowart said. “I just try and be me.”

Afterward and slightly fatigued from standing on an artificial left leg, Cowart sat and reflected on the act itself and what he is doing now. He is taking college courses during his rehabilitation and hopes to start a business.

“I try and stay as active as I can,” Cowart said. “I have an opportunity to do what I want, so I am going to take it.”