This is about the reasons for citations and hero-worshipping of those who safely return from a war in a distant country, enjoying life-long benefits and honours bestowed upon themselves and their families. Of course, only they know what transpired in a battle. Once they have returned to their respective home countries, nobody else knows what they did “over there”. Soldiers among themselves keep tight-lipped about what they did, when and where and how. Only eye witnesses and surviving victims of war know.  And who are the ‘surviving victims of war ? Young children mostly, subjected to heavy bombings for years. Their home countries obliterated, nowhere to go. Refugees ? not necessarily.
For all intents and purposes, a war strategy which included/includes the extermination of a civilian population – often referred to as ‘by-product of the destruction of industrial sites or collateral damage’ – must be considered immoral. Who cares about the Geneva Convention and their additional Protocols [ http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0173.htm ] – when in the heat of battle unarmed civilians and children are killed.
They only came at night (WWII). Bombers who fly at night do not see where their bombs land. Nor do they care. Vietnam Wars = worse bombings than ever onto the civilian peasant population. Iraq: How many civilian deaths and cultural artifacts destroyed.
When talking about morality, there is one thing I strongly question:”Why is it, that today and who knows for the next 500 or more years to come, those who flew those bombers over the unarmed civilians are still being honoured in their own home lands and in those allied to their home lands; while the enemy nation whose home land was destroyed is still being subjected to the most evil mass media propaganda ? War Hero, or War Criminal ? Where to draw the line ? Every time I see someone drive by in a car with a special license plate WAR VETERAN, I ask myself : “where have you been and what did you do in that war ?”
[from the mouth of a victim of war, and an eye-witness]