I think this is spot-on. I might go a bit farther, and characterize the fever infecting much of our society as 'jingoism' - even beyond nationalism in its focus on military power.
Every week, at Mass, our parish prays "For all veterans, who have served our country and thus preserved our freedom as a nation." Now, I'm aware that we still have a few surviving veterans who fought against Hitler's Germany... but with that (rapidly disappearing) exception, I really don't see that American military veterans of our various wars since 1945 have "preserved our freedom as a nation," because I don't see that there have been any credible external threats to that freedom since (arguably) Hitler's Germany.
We've been engaged in shooting wars in a host of places since 1945 - but against adversaries who may perhaps (in some cases) have threatened our economic interests, or where we have had ideological disagreements with our adversaries (and chose to try to destroy them as a result). But threats to our freedom? I don't see that.
There's the issue of the Soviet Union, who was often perceived as posing a mortal threat (and which had the strategic capability to destroy us using nuclear weapons, for sure). So, are we praying for the veterans who manned SAC bombers and missile silos? Perhaps. But I have to note that a good deal of the perceived threat from the Soviet Union was imagined; many of the same kinds of people who were concerned about Soviet intentions do not seem to be particularly bothered by current Russian intentions - yet objectively speaking, Putin's Russia is at least as expansionist as the Soviet Union ever was, and every bit as capable of delivering nuclear devastation. But... Putin has a remarkable degree of support in certain US conservative circles - apparently because of his open hostility to the LGBT population (or perhaps because people with authoritarian tendencies tend to identify with authoritarians). So it really looks like the issue with the Soviet Union vs. Russia is/was at least partially about ideology (communism vs. capitalism, tolerance vs. repression), not so much about actual threat.
As for the jingoism at American sporting events - the National Anthem, God Bless America, military fly-overs at NFL games, "honoring the troops," etc. - these are just reflective of the jingoism in our larger society. It's perhaps telling that this tradition began in 1918 - as the First World War was ending, in an era when the United States was really taking on a role of international power (with some frankly imperialistic) for the first time. Our constant expression of nationalistic fervor dates back to about the time we began to throw our weight around internationally. Go figure.
I have family members currently serving overseas, or just back from deployment, so please don't interpret the above as anti-military. My concern is not with the military, but with our foreign policy. Our servicemen and women are good people, making real sacrifices for their country. It's not their fault that they're making sacrifices in the service of bad policy; it's not our military men and women who have decided the US needs to intervene in 100+ nations around the world. That's on our political leadership, and on an electorate that doesn't stand up and say "enough."
