Not anxious to die. Just anxious to matter.

Hi everybody.

I'm watching a movie, 'Pearl Harbor',
and I've got this line which is a bit puzzling.

Here's the context.

An American pilot is dispatched into a battlefield.
and a British soldier asks this enthusiastic American in a bit sarcastic way,

"Are all Yanks as anxious as you to get themselves killed?"

He replies,

'I'm not anxious to die, sir. Just anxious to matter.'

Not exactly knowing what 'anxious to matter' means,
I looked up the dictionary and found that
'matter' as a verb means 'to be of importance or signify'.

Let me rephrase what the pilot says and please correct me if I got it wrong.

"It's not like I'd love to die, sir. I just want to do something important." ???

Could you help me get the right answer?
I'd appreciate any comments.
Thank you.