Sound like you've never met a western gang member. I've met plenty of people willing, even charged up to die for much more petty things.

A few people will always be mentally ill enough to resort to gang violence. But I mean even by Vietnam patriotism among the american youth was basically 180 from wwii peak. And it hasn’t really gotten better since. Everyone I know who enlisted did it for a free college degree and usually hated the military actually.