When 9/11 hit my immediate reaction was to try to reenlist, despite the fact that a. I was never an amazingly good soldier and b. the last time I was called up I spent half the time sick or injured. (Pneumonia in Benning then pulling my back shifting a mortar.) After mature reflection (and being told by a recruiter that I was a year too old, a condition which has continued despite the Army extending the period every year. By one year!) I came to the conclusion that my best choice was continuing to be a bard for the military.
The bards of yore are often villified or satirized and I've done so myself. But their benefit, I've come to understand (or perhaps rationalize) is in setting up a mirror for the warrior. In it, the warrior sees the world that he exists within reflected and deepened. Things that are present and sharp to him are broadened into a wider understanding. In a mirror, you see not only yourself but what is behind you and around you. It gives a richer perspective of the things that seemed trivial or horrific at the time. That, it's to be hoped, gives a sense of peace after a hard day's battle.
Or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better about being too old, fat and lazy to carry a rifle.
:->
John