All wars are not created equal. All soldiers do not come into combat with the same motives. Their differences are masked by uniforms and discipline. They find themselves serving a unified objective. And most of them probably serve for altruistic reasons. So in general it is appropriate to honor the intentions with which they served.
Especially after World War Two, those who served could not be certain they were defending the bastions of good against the forces of evil. War is so chaotic and disruptive, and takes on such a life of its own that many of the casualties simply feed the war itself. The combatants are tools of their political masters.
We should honor the service member's sense of duty, loyalty and sacrifice. Even those who survive have sacrificed a portion of their lives. But at the same time we can despise the conflict in which our service members were used and are used. War is idiotic. It should never break out. Humanity seems unable to outgrow it, but perhaps we're making a little progress. One can only hope.
Conflict is natural. Peace is not. But heinous weapons are not natural either. So our expression of conflict goes beyond our original physical equipment. We can either give way to warfare and see who is the last person standing or we can work on other ways to get along. We can't really have it both ways.
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