Not to disagree, but to propose and alternative view: I have many veterans in my family, most of them combat veterans. I suspect that if you asked them, they could (if they were so inclined...most of them are not, although in his last days my grandfather did tell me a little about D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge) tell you of moments when the voice of God spoke clearly in their service.

While I appreciate the momentus occasion to which Vonnegut refers, the men on the battlefields then were pretty much like the men and women on the battlefields now - frightened, angry, missing their loved ones, hoping they were doing something worthwhile. I'm not convinced that it is that much different now. The soldiers on the field don't make the decisions of when or where to fight, the old men in the offices do that. But the old men don't hear the voice of God.

I suspect that it is awareness of the meaning of the day that has failed rather than the value of the people who chose to put themselves in harms way, and what they sacrifice to do it.