When Nathan Hale said that his only regret was that he had only one life to give for his country, that defines war from the patriotic soldier's perspective.
From that perspective, personal involvement in war made no sense to the younger Donald. So it made sense for him to get his old man's doctor to invent an ailment in his feet that would make him ineligible for war, but still able to compete on his college polo team.
Admiral-General Bonespurs is much less circumspect now that he has many thousands of lives to bet on his random global ambitions.
The calculus of other people's suffering is very different for leaders who have never faced any danger themselves.
