My dad fought in WWII, in the South Pacific Theater. He told his kids to avoid going into the military. It wasn't all glorious for him by any means. They would go for weeks without food drops. Once they had to steal pineapples from a local grower because there was no food. He never ate pineapple again.
I'm not so sure he felt particularly "righteous" either. He had nightmares every night for the next 64 years, right up until he died. Though I'm sure the nightmares started very shortly after the war began. He was part of the cleanup crew at Pearl. They were at sea when Pearl was attacked. When they got the news they had to go back into port and black the ship out before heading to Pearl. They arrived a few weeks after the attack. He was Army Corps of Engineers. They cleaned up and rebuilt the mess. He saw most of the islands. He never wanted to go back. He saw plenty of death on both sides. Up close and personal. Nobody heard those stories until he opened up to a nurse, and a little bit to my mom just a few days before he died.
I don't think he found killing "Japs" righteous. Pretty sure he saw nothing glorious in war. I wish he was still alive. I miss him.