The people who have served and died in our armed forces are a mixed bag, as any collection of humans would be. Some were drafted; others volunteered. Some were drawn by patriotic service; others by the benefits. Some joined in times of peace; others in times of war. Some were born in this country; others were immigrants, legal or otherwise. Some fought and died in conflicts I agreed with; others in conflicts I opposed; some died outside of combat altogether.
But draftee or volunteer, patriot or poltroon, exemplar of nobility or war criminal, action hero or person hugging their foxhole wishing all the noise would stop … all of them lost their life in the service of our nation, and for that we remember both their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of those whose lives were impacted by those deaths.
War is hell. Glorifying it or myth-making about it is rarely a good thing. But ultimately, though every soldier serves for their own reasons, and in their own way, remembering and even honoring those whose service led to their deaths is a worthwhile thing to do, if only to make sure that those whose service should be honored are not forgotten, and that the cost we pay for having and using our armed forces is not just measured in budget line items.
Not to be deliberately pedantic, but it's in memoriam.
+Lev Osherovich Well, heck. Thanks — corrected.