There are days when it’s hard to be a hero. Just ask Curtis Barrett.

Two years ago, the RCMP corporal shot Michael Zehaf-Bibeau in the head in Parliament’s Hall of Honour, just minutes after the 32-year-old Zehaf-Bibeau had fired three bullets into the back of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, an unarmed member of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, who was posted at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

An Ontario Provincial Police report into the terror attack on Parliament Hill on October 22, 2014, concluded that Zehaf-Bibeau “presented a serious and imminent threat to the lives of all persons inside Centre Block,” including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the entire Conservative caucus meeting in the Reading Room, just off the Hall of Honour.

It was heartbreaking to hear that you’re a failure for not stopping this guy

The report concluded that the House of Commons’ former Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Vickers, and Barrett “fired their weapons and neutralized the threat.”

But while Vickers was hailed as a hero by the nation and appointed Canada’s ambassador to Ireland, Barrett’s contribution was buried, redacted and generally forgotten, leading him into a downward spiral of post-traumatic stress.

After two years, the RCMP has finally recognized the valour of Barrett, and the three other officers who walked into gunfire that day — he will receive the Star of Courage from the Governor-General at a ceremony next Friday. But Barrett’s story is a cautionary tale about how this country treats those of its sons and daughters who put themselves at great peril to keep the rest of us safe.