Reply #1: he's just a brainwashed parent who does not want to believe that his son died for nothing

[SoCalDem]

I have a gut feeling that the gung-ho parents are all grappling with these feelings.

in the dark of night when they wake up because they thought they heard their son/daughter's car drive up,, in those minutes after they fully wake up and realize that they are never coming back again.. that's when the awful truth has to sink in,, but at the other times, they simply have to make a narrative...a story that they tell themselves. that story is one where the child was brave..loved being a soldier..died for his/her country..

if they cannot convince themselves of the story, they would have to come to the conclusion that their child was 'wasted'...and who wants to live the rest of their life knowing that that child they raised is gone now..for no good reason.