From left, Medal of Honor recipients Desmond Doss, Robert Patterson and Donald Ballard.

On savage battlefields far from home, Desmond Doss, Robert Patterson and Donald Ballard wove an uncommon thread.

All three defeated humankind’s inherent desire for self-preservation, to avoid danger and stay alive — ordinary men who made extraordinary choices.

Decades later, those choices have never been more relevant and instructive to a nation sick with self-interest and facing a desperate deficit of integrity and courage.

Vietnam War veterans Patterson and Ballard are Medal of Honor recipients, while Doss received the award during World War II.

Patterson and Ballard, along with Doss’ son, Desmond Doss Jr., were guests at this past month’s Texas Veterans Military Show in Bullard.

In profiles of each veteran published during the previous weeks in the News-Journal, a theme emerged: Selfless decisions bore heroism in exceedingly perilous circumstances.

As Ballard, a former Navy corpsman, told us about his actions in Vietnam that saved the lives of multiple troops, “I just did my job .. I risked my life.”

Of the more than 41 million Americans who’ve served in the military, 3,517 have received the Medal of Honor — that’s significantly less than 1 percent.

And while the number of veterans who’ve been in combat is a far greater number, everyday Americans don’t need a war zone to share Ballard’s aim and exhibit his courage.

“Risking your life” doesn’t have to mean staring down an enemy’s rifle or jumping on a grenade. In a world where integrity bows down to position, power, reputation and money, the risk in doing what’s right is very real and very costly.

The attitude in heart displayed by those Medal of Honor recipients is the antidote for the malady of cowardice and selfishness infecting Washington and Austin and our country as a whole.

So where are people like Doss, Patterson and Ballard? They can be you, your neighbor, the stranger you pass on the street.

Doss Jr. said despite his father’s notoriety for his valor during WWII, “he was just a regular, ordinary human being.”

Truly, from ordinary people can come exceptional feats and an example for a whole nation to follow.