I'm also curious as to how the kids who fought in WWII identify. Do they see themselves as tough, or do they seem themselves as kids who were called to do extraordinarily difficult things to protect their country, homes, and family? It kind of seems like the Internet armchair enthusiasts like to apply the tough guy label who were put into situations where they had to fight & kill people without really wanting to be in those situations. I bet most of them were scared kids who got pretty messed up after going through everything they had to in the war. Most tough guys seem to like hanging around bars and telling other guys stories of their toughness to impress them. I dunno. War is awful.
I do think we have a fair amount of whinyness going on these days. Like we've had it so good for so long that people are getting really nitpicky about what they choose to complain about publicy.