Re: religious impact on military - question
I’m saying that the average foot soldier does think that. I do think the average American soldier has developed a warrior tradition that incorporates those values as somthing sacred. The elite will have their own agendas, no doubt.
As for Vietnam, that was propagandized as a war against an evil regime which was demonstrably “un-free”. Liberation (not to mention containment of an expansionist threat) was the theme, not occupation.