There are plenty other ways to serve. You can still go to college and get a job with DOD contracting still if you really want to serve close to the military personnel's There are a lot of government contractors that work closely with the military. You can still serve, but will just be in another way.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.