Though having no experience with warfare myself, I can’t help but think perhaps there are far broader emotional and spiritual experiences to be had in such extreme circumstances.
Unfortunately, the world's leaders become more and more ignorant of that fact the longer a period of 'peace' lasts.
Most people in the world today have no personal knowledge of war, so they aren't too fussed when somebody says 'Let's go to war with <some entity or other>'.
That's why really bad wars seem to break out every 100 years or so. All the guys who have personal knowledge of how bad wars really are have died out, leaving the 'gung-ho' ones to start the next major conflict.
We're coming up to the next really big one 'Real Soon Now'. If you're under about 40, you'd better start getting fit, and don't neglect to make out your Will.