There were a lot of people that got caught up in that patriotic shit, that believed they were going to make a difference, do something good. I worked with a guy that was blown up in an armored HMMWV somewhere in either Iraq or Afghanistan; he survived, some of his friends didn't. He had a TBI that--last I knew--he still wasn't recovered from. He had pretty brutal PTSD from his entire time overseas.
And yet, he still loved the people he served with, said it was a great experience, and also thought (in hindsight) that we were there for bullshit reasons.
I was abused by my first spouse. Doesn't mean that I didn't also love them for almost all of our marriage.
Shit's complicated, man.