WEST CHAZY, N.Y. (AP) - For many, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Micah Johnson's rescue of two downed pilots earlier this month was a heroic tale of bravery.

But for Johnson, who is on leave from his second tour of duty in Iraq, it was just another day on the job.

"We knew what we had to do and we just went in and did it," said the 25-year-old father of two, who is relaxing at the northern New York home of his parents, Mike and Darcy Johnson, before he returns to the Middle East on July 24.

Johnson said the dramatic thing was that the two fallen Kiowa helicopter pilots had escaped the smoking wreckage uninjured.

That's often not the case. Johnson's close friend and fellow pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Defrenn, died when an Apache helicopter was shot down on Feb. 2.

"To see the two guys walking away was amazing. I couldn't believe it," he said Saturday afternoon as he watched his 2-year-old daughter, Dakotah Faith, race across the living room while his son, Gage, played nearby.

Now, after being thrust into the national limelight, Johnson hopes he can help remind people of the many heroes who have lost their lives answering the call of duty and the hundreds of others who are still willing to each day.

"It's not about me at all. It's about the guys who need to be remembered and for the ones who are over there doing this every day. They all would have done the same thing we did," Johnson said as he talked about his July 2 rescue south of Baghdad.

"I thought it was going to be a normal day flying with my buddy (Apache co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Allan Davison)," said Johnson, a North Dakota native who calls Del Rio, Texas, home.

He attended elementary school in Lignite, in northwestern North Dakota. His father, Mike, is a Grand Forks native and former border patrol agent in North Dakota.

Micah Johnson said he and Davison heard about a possible "fallen angel" in the area, and began to search for the scout-platform aircraft that had been shot down by machine-gun-armed insurgents.

"At first, we couldn't see anything or find anything," he said. "I started to get myself ready just in case so I would be ready to do whatever needed to be done."

They spotted the crash, and when others landed near the wreckage, they found that the pilots were gone and only their helmets remained.

By then, the heavy enemy fire had ceased as the downed pilots hid in the thick mud and reeds of a nearby canal, and the insurgents began to clear from the area as the aerial support began to circle.

As one of the downed pilots radioed their location, the other crawled from an embankment and tried to flag down the approaching aircraft.

Johnson and Davison "instinctively made the decision we were going to go down and get these guys."

As he jumped from the helicopter, Johnson saw the pilots about 50 feet from their flaming and mangled aircraft. Once the shaken and bruised pilots reached the Apache, Johnson helped Chief Warrant Officer 2 Steven Cianfrini into the front seat.

He then helped secure Chief Warrant Officer 2 Mark Burrows to the left-wing side of the aircraft before he hopped onto the right wing, hanging onto the exterior handles as they lifted and sped away at 140 mph.

About 10 minutes later, they arrived at Baghdad International Airport where they left the two pilots.

"When we first got back, it was just another day for us; we filed our reports and that was it," Johnson recalled. "We just did what we were trained to do."

But the next day, as he prepared for his leave July 4, he began getting calls for interviews as the national media began to learn about the crash and rescue.

His parents heard the details of the rescue as they were preparing to watch Fourth of July fireworks, giving the celebration a special meaning.

"Once I knew he was OK, I was ecstatic. He did such a good thing," said his father, the director of air operations for Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection.

As he enjoys his leave, Johnson finds himself thinking of the rescue and pausing to remember the many others who did not share in the same fate.

"I just want those guys to be remembered and for people to re-member the ones still over there," Johnson said.