Che said:
Don't follow you there Michael though I'm certain there's a good reason for it.
Why is it a terrible burden?
When you're 25 years old, been in combat, awarded the highest decoration you can possibly get - what do you do for an encore?
Filip Konowal swept offices on Parliament Hill ("I used to mop up with a rifle and bayonet, now I just use a broom.") The Prime Minister saw him one day and made him his personal office-cleaner. He later killed a man in a barfight, and was let go for reasons of insanity (his war wounds were judged to be the culprit, in the days before PTSD was diagnosed).
Arthur Richardson turned into an opium addict, and apparently demanded rank and privileges in the NWMP due to his VC after his return from the Boer War. I suspect he never adjusted to civilian life.
For every story of fame and fortune, there is a story of someone else who couldn't adjust.
The young Private will be a spokesman for the rest of his life for the Army, his Regiment, and all the brave men who have won the VC in the past.
He will have the dubious pleasure of knowing that military buffs around the world are watching for news of his death, so they can update their websites...
Smokey Smith - the hell raiser who was put up to NCO several times, and demoted just as many - was told right after getting his award that he would have to change. He was no longer just plain Smokey Smith, but Smokey Smith, VC. By all accounts, he lived up to it well, and continues to do so.