We have friends in Kiev.
It is hell there. So yea, exchange your boring hell for their hell, great idea.
Civilian life is a boring gray life where you live vicariously through the news or arts.
Looking back, the most vivid memories I have, the best friends I have and still stay in touch with, the most excitement and feeling of “accomplishment,” was when deployed.
I heard that before, “war is hell.” But I’ll tell you it’s a hell I wouldn’t trade for anything. It’s the ultimate hunt - the ultimate game of cowboys and Indians. While you loath it when there (weeks without a shower, crappy food sometimes...), somehow your thoughts and memories remember a romanticized version later. You feel 2 inches taller when you return, and after a while you really do wish you could go back to that “hell.”
I can understand how the Vikings saw things.