Why? It is not as if a soldier is intrinsically good. Soldiers of all nationalities, including American, have committed numerous atrocities as well as the opposite. Frankly, with how our foreign policy has been the last few decades, and especially since the Iraq invasion, I find it more questionable that an informed citizen would join up now than to pursue some other occupation (mind you, I mean for the "protect my country" reasoning, not financial or other reasons) than I used to when I was younger.