None of them were children.
There is no draft. There is a volunteer army. I understand you and yours believe that only illiterate, poverty-stricken dupes volunteer for the military, and no amount of documentation disproving that is going to have an effect on you. But the fact is that these are adults, who volunteer. And the reenlistment rate, particularly for combat veterans, is very high.
Most of the troops over there believe in what they're doing. Maybe, after your own military experience, that's what really pisses you off.