This and every Veterans Day, I think about a Vietnam veteran I heard speak at a presentation some time ago.
He told us a story about a speech he gave once, where after the talk a young boy came up to him and announced that he wanted to be a soldier when he grew up. The veteran asked him why he wanted to do that.
The young boy promptly answered, "Because I want to be a hero!"
The veteran looked the boy straight in the eyes and said, "There is nothing heroic about killing people. >I< have killed people, and I don't feel like a hero for doing it. You want to be a hero? Great. Be the one who figures out a way to solve problems without killing people."