Army civilian Carl E. Marchlewicz demonstrated selfless service when he was off the clock last year: he didn’t even think twice before running into a burning home to rescue six children.Marchlewicz was recently honored at a Pentagon ceremony with the 2014 Secretary of the Army Award for Valor.Under Secretary of the Army Brad R. Carson said he is inspired by what the military and civilian workforce has accomplished, especially under "crushing fiscal constraints, forcing the Army’s soldiers and civilians to do so much more, with so much less."The Army has awesome global responsibilities, requiring public servants with an unshakable degree of selflessness, he said."We will arrive prepared for the next conflict, as America always has, borne on the shoulders of those citizens that choose a life of public service," he said.Adding, "I firmly believe that if we empower our public servants and trust their abilities, they will carry us beyond our furthest goals to accomplishments undreamed of."Award for ValorMarchlewicz, a mechanical engineer with Program Executive Office (PEO) Ground Combat Systems in Warren, Mich., said an 11-year-old neighbor pounded on his door one afternoon last year saying: "My house is on fire!""I entered the kitchen and it was ablaze; the stove was on fire, it was melting the microwave," he said.Adding, "I grabbed my fire extinguisher, shot it and it went out, then all of a sudden, it flamed back up again like four times bigger."Marchlewicz, who has been an Army civilian for more than a decade, was able to extinguish the blaze on the stove, but didn’t know if there was a fire anywhere else, since the home was filled with thick, black smoke.After rescuing four children, he returned to retrieve two children who were hiding in the basement.Marchlewicz said he "crawled in underneath the smoke and went downstairs and grabbed the children," bringing all the siblings to safety as firefighters arrived.His citation for the award for valor read that he acted without regard for his life or personal safety, and as "a result of his personal courage and selfless service, he saved six lives."The actions were instinctual, he said. During the emergency, his only concerns were about finding the children and putting out the fire."I just have a hard time when people say ‘hero.’ You just do what you got to do," he said."We’re awfully proud of Carl and the recognition is really well-deserved," said Brig. Gen. David Bassett, with PEO Ground Combat Systems. "Not everyone would have gone into that house, and Carl did."