What do you mean it shows no heroism?
To me it shows the heroism of the common Soviet soldier extremely well, while highlighting the cruelty of the upper echelons of the Soviet command structure - which did, in fact, exist and was proliferant.
I can only assume that most Americans get their WWII history from movies like Enemy at the Gates.
The statement is about as well founded as a house built on sand.
That said, Americans do have a warped perception of history. So does every single other country. The only ones you can look at for unbiased views are the ones that remained neutral during the war.
Truth of it is, Soviet commanders were cruel, wasted soldiers due to their own misunderstanding of warfare and incompetency.
And the other side of it is, the common man on the ground for both Germans and Soviets are all heroes in their own way. Both sides were filled with conscripts that had guns pointed at their backs and were forced to fight one another, both sides had brave men that committed acts of heroism as their own sides saw it, and both sides suffered the horrible conditions of the Eastern Front.
I don't see why any of us feel the need to glorify what happened there. It was a massacre for everybody involved, through and through, millions of which were unwilling participants.