"...he both regrets his participation in the war and is proud of it at the same time..." I used to hang out frequently with a Viet Nam vet (close-support artil

"...he both regrets his participation in the war and is proud of it at the same time..." I used to hang out frequently with a Viet Nam vet (close-support artillery, not Special Forces, so a different kind of thing of course), and he'd drink heavily and sometimes his war experiences would come out - just anecdotes, nothing horrible. It was just as you describe. I don't think he even really wanted to talk about that stuff, but it left such a strong impression that he was compelled to.