I believe that your thinking is wrong on several counts.
First, think back to Pearl Harbor. When a naval ship sinks, there are almost always lost lives because there are so many spaces that can be a death trap even if the watertight doors are open. I think about 1200 lost their lives on the Arizona.
The second point is also made by thinking of the Arizona. None of the sailors aboard the Arizona that morning was aware that the U.S. would be at war with Japan that afternoon. Their ship was attacked and their duty was to save the ship. The outcome of the war was greatly impacted by the aircraft carriers that were not sunk during that attack.
My final point is made by the statement in the movie "12 O'clock High" by the General commanding a B17 bomb group. He told his crews to stop thinking about being hurt or killed during a mission. Just consider yourself already dead. Without the sense of duty adopted by the great majority of military fighters, the typical battle would become a mad dash of individuals attempting to save their own skins by running away or trying to hide while others did the dirty work.
Without a sense of duty of greater importance than life itself, the Normandy landings could never have occurred and the world we live in would be very much different.
“Just consider yourself already dead.”
I was watching a bunch of bomber documentaries awhile ago. Real footage, the old vets recalling their experiences, etc.
Almost all of them said that - they figured they were going to die - so they just did their jobs. But many of them also said things like “Well yes, we all figured we would die up there - but in the same breath we would say ‘it won’t happen to me - at least not today.’ Odd how those two thoughts can exist at the same time.”