Some fights not worth dying for

We should never forget, because we owe them so much. But at the same time, war itself is far from noble.

I have heard conversation about the saturation of Anzac Day commemorations and the recounting of tales of our past soldiers, fighting and dying in Turkey, France and Belgium 100 years ago.

There is a nobility to these memories, of young men with pretty much no clue as to what lay ahead, but nonetheless feeling a duty to stand and serve.

It may be too large a stretch, but the gradual increase in the popularity of Anzac commemorations is occurring as we're seeing more youngsters heading overseas to fight for a cause - namely Islamic State.

One would have thought the last thing a young person would like to do is go somewhere where a drone is going to drop a pile of ordnance on his or her head. This isn't 1914, where war could have been seen as the biggest game in town, an adventure.

Media coverage of what happens in countries like Syria, including social media, is all too clear on the risks involved. Yet we do have youngsters contemplating joining the "fight".

For us, it's not as common as English citizens, but we've recently had an 18-year-old die in an airstrike.

We make jokes about the selfishness and materialism of the teenage generation, but is that simply a generalisation, born from an older person's reaction to the odd extreme.

Is it innate in all of us to find a cause and fight for it?

It is likely it appeals to youngsters who are disaffected, and in need of a collective to channel energy. Sports has always been one outlet for battle among your peer group.

Wargamers probably touch on this part of our psyche as well. But are we, as a society, placing so much emphasis on World War I stories that we are building a nobility where none should really exist?

My grandfather returned from WWII and gave his medals to my brother and I to play with. I only recently discovered them in a box of my belongings. For us, war comics and "playing war" was the normality - with the medals - and perhaps we got the idea of war out of our system.

Back then, Anzac Days were badly patronised, and wars were police actions or Arabic nonsense.

Now, we commemorate wars with dignity. We should never forget, because we owe them so much. But at the same time, war itself is far from noble.